The Secret Agent vs the Doctor's daughter
by loki1216
Summary: Sequel to Chuck vs the Doctor's Daughter and set after season three of Chuck. Chuck must help Jenny in defeating a threat that is obsesses in destroying her.
1. Chapter 1

The Secret Agent vs. The Doctor's Daughter

Chuck looks at the basement with astonishment that was only been reserved for little eight years old kids at Christmas time. Every time he walks down the stairs, he could feel his heart start to race. The air around him seems to sizzle with excitement. At times, it feels like he is dreaming. The basement is like a present that refused to stop giving. Chuck never knows what he is going to find. It is always a surprise. For Chuck, that is saying something.

Chuck Bartowski's life has been a series of incredible events. He absorbed the nation's secrets in his head after reading an e-mail sent by an old college friend. Once the heads of the CIA and NSA realized what happened, they sent out their best agents to protect Chuck: John Casey and Sarah Walker. After all, he did not know kung fu at the time. Chuck fell in love with Sarah the first moment that he saw her. It did help that she was/is an attractive blonde with moves that put men in the hospital. The good news is that she fell in love with him.

Of course, Chuck can not forget the fact that he has been on several missions that has not ended with his death. With the Intersect in his head, it was inevitable. Chuck could not complain too much. His secret life led him to find his estranged father. With the life that he had led, it would take a lot to surprise Chuck.

This basement proved Chuck wrong.

Chuck found out that his father was a key individual in creating the Intersect. This fact alone made his father a target to various secret organizations. In the end, his father was killed by one of their agents. After Chuck found justice for his father, Chuck received an e-mail from his father. It was his father saying good bye. The e-mail also revealed a hidden basement underneath Chuck's childhood home. It took Chuck a month to simply absorb the fact that his father kept Chuck's childhood home. To add a hidden basement filled with gadgets and binders filled with information, it was a lot of information to simply absorb.

After he did absorb the facts, Chuck made a decision.

He had to show his sister the basement.

Ellie Bartowski is standing in the middle of the basement, staring at the shelves of boxes, each labeled with some mysterious name. Ever since Chuck brought his sister to the basement, Ellie has been very quiet. After she finishes staring at the boxes, she starts to stare at the devices. It is an odd sight for Chuck looking at his sister surrounding by boxes and gadget while still wearing her hospital clothes.

Chuck figured that it would be best to pick her up since Devon, her husband, had a late shift at the hospital. With his girlfriend and John Casey on a CIA/NSA mission, Chuck figured this was the perfect time for him to show his sister.

Ellie takes a deep breath and places her focus on her brother. Chuck Bartowski is sitting on the stairs watching his sister. He is wearing a dark blue t shirt and worn out jeans. He is wearing his chucks. She could see that he is wearing a lot of apprehension on his face. Chuck looks at his sister face to see that she is concern, worried and slightly confused.

"OK. Tell me one more time." said Ellie to her brother. The way his sister said it, Chuck knew that his sister had to think about it.

"Dad, send me an e-mail a month ago right after we brought Shaw down. Think of it as his final good byes to me. In it, he said that he had been a spy for the past twenty years."

"Our dad was a spy." It was not a question that came out of Ellie's mouth. It was a statement that she was trying to wrap her brain around. While it did not take Chuck long to absorb the concept, he had a lot of experience in this sort of thing. His sister did not.

"I never really knew how extensive it was. I just assumed that his role was just on the Intersect project." said Chuck, admitting his own ignorance about his father. Still, his father was very good at hiding it.

"OK. I am slowly accepting that fact that our dad is a spy. Did he say who he worked for?" ask Ellie.  
"According to the e-mail, he did not work for any agency. He was doing this on his own."

"Scary thought. Why?" ask Ellie the questions that Chuck figured she would ask. It was part of the reason Chuck took his time in making his decision to reveal all of this to his sister. He wanted to have answers for his sister.

"He said that there are people out there that no one could touch. He said that he had to do something about that. He also said that he was doing it to protect us."

"That's a scarier thought." Ellie did not bother hiding her concern over the thought.

"Yeah, I know." Chuck did not bother hiding his own concerns over the same thought.

"Does that mean that someone is looking for us?"  
"I don't know. I don't know if he means the broad sense of it or if he meant specifically." Chuck breath in the air to prepare what is going to come out of his mouth. "I think that he meant that he is specifically protecting us from something out there."

"Why?"  
"Look at the file on the desk." Chuck points to the file. Ellie turn to see it. When Ellie walk into the basement, it was not the boxes of files that caught her eyes or gadget, it was the box on the desk. It had a binder that is right beside it. She resisted the urge to look at it. Now, she had no choice.

She approaches it like it was a bomb. She could feel the apprehension in her body. Finally, she simply grabs the binder and look at the side. She drops it when she saw the name.

"Mom." Chuck could hear the surprise, the fright, and the small bit of anger in her voice. He had it when he saw the box. He did not want to warn his sister about it. Chuck knew that his sister would not believe it if he said it. It was not the fact that she would have thought that he was lying, it was the fact that it was too unbelievable.

"Yep."

"Did you read what's inside?" ask Ellie as she turns to face her brother.

"Yeah. It has everything that Dad found out about Mom ever since she left us, Ellie. Dad has been looking for Mom ever since she left."

"Oh god." This was what Chuck has been wrapping his mind for the past month.

"Yeah. In the e-mail, he said that everything that he did was for her. I don't know what dad means by that. It just brings up more questions then any answer."

"How does all of this started? Why? What does this have to do with Mom? Those are just the ones that are coming to me." Ellie look around for a chair to sit on. Once she realizes that there was none, she leans on the table.

"Tell me about it. I got too many questions in my head to figure out which ones is the right one." Chuck lost count on how many sleepless nights he had.

"OK." Ellie calm herself down. "So, how did Sarah take all of this?"

"She doesn't know."

"What?" Ellie's reaction told Chuck everything.

"I haven't told anyone yet. You are the first one." said Chuck.  
"Why?" ask Ellie to her brother.  
"Dad didn't want me to tell anyone. He wanted all of this to be a secret. But I'm not dad. I figure that since this is a Bartowski thing that you should know first. Beside, I owe you one since I kept me being a spy a secret." Ellie saw that her brother is a little embarrassed by this fact.

"Thanks." said Ellie. She looks around the room very carefully. "So, what are we going to do?"

"That's why I have you here." Ellie look at her brother in confusion. "Look. I promised that I would stop being a spy. Considering what dad left us, I can say that is going to be an easy thing for me to keep." Ellie nod in agreement with her brother's statement.

The last will of Stephen Bartowski was found in his cabin about two weeks after his passing. It was like Chuck expected. It was in a box sealed up by a computerized lock. It can only be opened up by a finger print of both siblings. What they found was a letter to Ellie and three titles. Chuck got the trailer in the desert and the childhood home. Ellie got the wooden cabin. The letter was his father way of saying goodbye to Ellie. It also stated that both siblings divided up in half what was secured in safety deposit box in a bank in New Mexico. When they opened up the safety deposit box, money became the last thing either Bartowski siblings had to worry about again.

"But all of this. This is a game changer, Ellie. If I go down this road in finding out why Dad was looking for Mom, there is a chance that I may meet some very bad people. I may have to break my promise to you to even figure out any of this. But I don't have to."

Ellie look at her brother.

"What I can do is simply lock this door and forget about it. I can pretend I never found it and no one would know about it. All you have to do is tell me what you want me to do because you are my sister and I wouldn't have you worry about me. I made a promise and I will keep it." Chuck made sure that he spoke each word clearly to his sister to show his sincerity.

His sister looks around at the devices and the binder. She then places her focus on the box and binder on the desk that she had been leaning on.

"There is only one problem, Chuck." said Ellie after staring at the box and binder.

"What's that?" ask Chuck.

"There could be someone out there looking for us." point out Ellie to her little brother. The statement sent a chill to both siblings.

"I know."  
"Mom is out there and we actually have a chance to find her."

"I know."

"You think that I am going to have you forget about all of this." said Ellie in disbelief.

"I don't know." Said Chuck with his own disbelief.

"No, Chuck. I am not going to say that. You are my brother and I am going to protect you. I also know you will protect me. Ignoring all of this is not going to help either of us to do that. Especially now." Ellie look around at the basement. "You have Sarah. I have Devon. Let's not forget Casey and Morgan. If someone is really looking for us, I rather that we are ready to stop them. We have people now that count on us to protect them."

"I do want to point out that Casey and Sarah do a pretty good job in protecting themselves." counter Chuck.

"It doesn't matter, Chuck. Do you think that they can protect themselves if they don't know what could be coming."

"No."

"Exactly. I hate to say this, but whatever Dad was doing, we have to find out what he was actually doing. If for anything else, we can't always look over our shoulder, hoping that everything will be alright." Chuck nod in agreement.

"So you want me to find out what is going on." ask Chuck, wanting to be sure that he heard his sister correctly.

"I hate to say this, but yeah. We need to know what is going on. We have to be smart about this. You don't do anything beyond researching. You have to tell me what you find out before taking any action. If you do something, I also want you to take Sarah with you." Chuck look at his sister. He could tell that it was hard for his sister to say this statement.

"OK." Chuck had to agree. It was the right thing to do.

"God, this is so surreal." Ellie look at the basement.

"Yes, it is."

"So, what else does Dad have down here?"

"Beside research, he has plenty of devices that he invented."

"Like what?" ask Ellie who look at the weird device that looks like a metal helmet that is hanging from one of the shelves.

"I don't know. I have been figuring that one out…"

DING DONG!

The moment the door bell rang, both sibling jumps. Chuck nearly fell from the step that he was sitting on, while Ellie jump back.

"What was that?" ask Ellie.

"Door bell." reply Chuck who is still finding his heart.

"Really?" Ellie did not bother hiding her sarcasm.

"What do you want me to say?" said Chuck as he stands up from the floor. He starts to rub the dirt off of his butt.

"You could tell me who knows that we are here." ask Ellie.

"No one." reply Chuck.  
"Not helping, Chuck." answers Ellie. Chuck look at his sister and realize what he just said and the implication of the statement. He starts walking up the stair.

"Stay here. I am going to lock the basement. There is a laptop on that second shelves on the right. Turn it on and it will log on. You should be able to get Morgan, Devon, or even Casey in case something happens."

"Even in the basement?"

"Dad made this basement as a command center and a panic room combined. You probably could reach the President if you had to." reassure Chuck to his sister

"Nice thought." Ellie's concern subside a bit. "Be careful."

"Always." Chuck walk up the stair and into the small room. He turn the light switch on and off in a specific motion. The hidden basement door closes up as Chuck walk out the room. He walks into the living room when the door bell rings again. He moves the table cloth that covers the television set. Underneath it was a traq gun. Chuck picks it up. He slowly approaches the window adjacent to the door.

Chuck walk to the side window to see a postal man walking away from the house. If it was an assassin, he was giving up too easy. Chuck watch as the man walk into his truck and drives away.

Chuck walk to the front door. He turns the front porch light on and off in a specific rhythm and wait.

His father was paranoid. Even before Chuck knew the truth, his father took steps that seems tremendous unnecessary to him. Chuck remembers when his dad only allowed Chuck to eat ice cream that was bought from the store. His dad said that ice cream from an ice cream truck was too dangerous. At that time, he said it was because of bacteria in the truck. Now that he knows the truth and the fact that Chuck was a spy, those methods did not seem extreme at all.

When Chuck found out that there was an X-ray device underneath the front porch, Chuck wonder why there was not one installed at the apartment complex.

Chuck walks back to the television set and completely removes the cover. He turns on the old television. The television screen reveals that the package that the postal man left on the porch was a simple box. He waits for a few more seconds as the screen turn black. The television screen reveals the package's content.

It is a CD.

Chuck walk back to the front door and turn the x ray off. He opens the door and surveys the neighborhood and pick up the package. Chuck look around the neighborhood from the porch, hoping that this was not a decoy to lure him out. Once satisfied, Chuck closes the door and walk back to the basement.

"Chuck!" yells out the concerned Ellie as the door open.

"It's alright. Dad got a package." Chuck walk down the stair to see his sister relived. She has already set the laptop up on the desk beside the box that had his mother's file.

"You have to be kidding me?" said Ellie, not bothering to hide her disbelief.

"No. It is addressed to him." Chuck look at the package as he approach the desk. There is a mailing label specifically addresses to Stephen Bartowski.

"Who would send dad a package?" ask Ellie.

"I don't know. Scanner shows that it is a CD." Chuck places the package on the desk.

"Scanner? There is a scanner?"

"Yeah. I found it a week ago. Pretty good too."

"You are forgetting one thing, Chuck."

"What?"

"Dad was paranoid. We barely knew where he was. Who would know that there was a possibility that he might be here?" Chuck realizes that he had been at this too long that he had forgotten to ask the right question.

"Good point. Let's open it up and find out." Chuck takes out a small key ring that has a disk on it. He slides the cover to the side to reveal a small knife. Chuck use the small knife to opens the package. True to the scanner's word, it is a CD. As he looks at the CD, Chuck realizes what he did. There was a strong possibility that he just erased the content on the CD. Chuck put the CD in the laptop drive and waits. The laptop accesses its media player. A screen appears and it is showing a dark room. Chuck let out a sigh of relief.

A woman sits down in front of the camera. When Chuck saw the woman, his heart skipped several beats.

"Stephen Bartowski." said the woman in the computer screen. "Hi. You do not know who I am, but I know who you are. More importantly, I know your son. I would not be contacting you if it was not important. I need your help."

Chuck presses a button to pause the recording.

"Chuck." Ellie look at her brother with concern.

"Oh boy."

"Chuck, what is going on?"

"It is kind of complicated."

"Un-complicate it."

"I know that woman." said Chuck. He resists the urge to tell his sister what he really knows in fear that his sister would send him to the mental institution: Her name is Jenny and she is part of the alien species called Time Lords.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Stephen Bartowski. You have to understand that I would not have contact you in this fashion if I did not have to. I would have rather talk to you in person. However, I do not have that luxury to do that."

Chuck stare at the Time Lord on the computer screen. It had been a two years since Chuck had seen her. He watches as Jenny continue to speak.

"There is a man who is after me. His name is Major Tom. I know. It is a silly name, but he was the one that named himself. Whatever you do, don't assume that he is not dangerous. His sole purpose in his life is to destroy me and everyone who I consider my friends. The fact is this: He has in one fashion or another, destroyed my friends. He did not kill them. He finds that to be unimaginative. No, he makes sure that they are irrevocably changed. They have been changed and will never be the same because of him. Unfortunately, I consider your son as one of my friends. However, he is safe. He did the one thing that the rest of my friends did not. He told me no. He instead chose to stay where he was at instead of joining me in my adventures. Because of that action, there are no records of his encounter with me. He is in no danger. For that reason alone, I chose not to involve him in this situation.

"Major Tom is now after me. I am the last thing he wants to destroy. I can stop him, but I need time. In order for me to get time, I must do the unthinkable."

Both Bartowski siblings could see the concern on Jenny's face as they watch the message to their father. Jenny, the Time Lord, held up a silver-looking pocket watch to the camera.

"This pocket watch is important. It is the most important thing that I have and I am going to hide it. Since you have this message, it means that it is time for me to come back. Your only mission is this: you have to simply find it."

"I may look like you, but I am nothing like you. I am not….human." Chuck held his breath, knowing what is coming.

"I am an alien. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is the true. Since I am who I am, I can do extraordinary things. One of those things is connected to this pocket watch. I can put my entire Time Lord essence in this pocket watch. Every memory, every thought and my abilities will be in this watch. Here I will be and here I will think. The drawback is the fact that I will become human. I can get hurt and killed. I will grow old and I will hunger and thirst. I will do everything that a human will do. I will also have no memory of who I am. My own DNA will be rewritten to be a human. It is a painful process; however, it is necessary. Major Tom will not find me because he will be looking for a Time Lord named Jenny, not a human.

"You must find this watch and then you must find me. Time is not on our side. Stephen Bartowski, you are my only hope. Good luck."

The computer screen goes black.

"Wait. Hold on. How can we find you?" plead Chuck at the screen. The screen simply stays black. "No. No. No. You did not give dad anything."

Chuck back up from the screen. He start to pace in a small circle.

"What was she thinking? She did not even give anything for dad to start." Chuck shut his mouth and let his thoughts pile up in his head.

"Chuck." said Ellie as she sees her brother start to freak out. She has seen it before in him and in other people. The uncontrollable feeling of helpless is trying to consume him.

"Chuck!" said Ellie in a louder and stern tone. Chuck continue to ignore her and start wave his hand in a frantic mad man way. Since he was not vocalizing his thoughts, it just simply looks like Chuck was having an episode.

"CHUCK!" yells out Ellie to her brother. Chuck turn to his sister. "Focus here."

"I am. Jenny just gave dad a cry for help and she did not give him anything for him to start with. How is dad going to find her?"

"He can't" said Ellie. Chuck stops pacing and looks at his sister.

"Oh." Chuck's heart sank a bit as he is reminded about his father.

"Dad can't find her, but you can." said Ellie.

"How? First I have to find the watch. Who knows where that is at? If I find the watch, I then have to find her. You know how many Jenny is out there in the world. I might as well look for a needle in a pile of needles." said Chuck as he sits back down on the stair.

"Well. I don't know, Chuck." Ellie get up from the chair and walk over her brother. "I can say only this. You are my brother and you are smart. Jenny obviously thought that dad can find her just based on what she said. If dad could find her, I know that you can."

Chuck look at his sister. It was something that he missed when he kept his secret of being the Intersect from her. He misses the conversation and the reassurance.

"Thanks."

"Let's get home. My brain feels like it is going to pop." Said Ellie.

"Well. Knowing that there are aliens out there isn't going to hit me until later. I am just still processing on dad right now."

"I'll help you with dinner." Offer Chuck to his sister as he gets up from the stair.

"Yeah right." said Ellie at the thought. They both walk up the stairs.

"Hey. I can cook." defend Chuck.

"If I want it burnt, yeah, you can cook."

"C'mon…"

She walks into the room with the lights off. She did not feel the need to turn on the lights since she knew where everything is at in the room. After she walks five paces, she turns around and sits on the bed to take off her shoes. Her feet scream in relief as she takes off her socks. She makes her feet feel better by wiggling her toes. She tosses her socks on the floor, not caring where they land. She closes her eyes and simply absorbs the moment. The pure silence in the room felt nice. Nothing in the room is going to disturb her or bothers her. Nothing in this room will tell her that she is not tall enough or skinny enough. It is peace from the outside world.

Once the moment pass, she takes off her blouse and her pants. She rolls her body to the other side of the bed. She starts to feel for her drawers. From the top, she counts the drawers down. Once she counts to three, she pulls out the drawer and takes out a t shirt and sleeping pants. She put them off to the side and closes the drawer. She put the clothes on and rolls to the center of the bed. She pushes the blankets off to the side and crawl underneath them. She lays her head on the pillow and closes her eyes to dream her night away.

In her dreams, she sees the stars closer then she ever imagine. She could see the comets pass her by as she tries to fly beside them. She sees one single rose on a deserted planet. In her dreams, she sees a sun exploding and a universe being born. She sees a Vortex that demands that she explore it. In her dream, she is fearless and magnificent. Most of all, she see the blue box. It is always beyond her grasp. She had dreams where the blue box is sitting on a beach or sitting in front of a black hole. When she sees the blue box, she cannot help herself but run towards it. The faster she runs toward it, the faster it runs away like a pixie in play. Still it does not bother her because she knows that she will reach it. It is simply a matter of time.

After all, it is her birthright.

Ellie pass the meatloaf to her brother. Chuck place it down in front of him and he tore a slice of it and places it on his plate, which already has mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans.

"So, what are you going to do about Sarah and Casey?" ask Ellie as she takes a bite from the meatloaf.  
"Probably the same thing that you are going to do with Awesome. I am going to tell them." He mixes the gravy that is on his mashed potatoes until it was completely brown.

"Good. I don't want you to keep secrets from them, especially about dad's little hobby." She starts cutting her meatloaf in smaller pieces.

"What about Jenny?" ask Chuck

"Honestly. I don't know. I am finding it a huge thing to swallow." said Ellie as she shook her head just thinking about the mysterious woman named Jenny.

"Tell me about it. If it was not for the spaceship, I wouldn't have believed her." Chuck takes a bite out of his green beans, not noticing the shock look on his sister's face.

"What?" said Ellie as she nearly drops her fork onto the floor.  
"Spaceship. She has a spaceship." Chuck takes another bite from his meatloaf and he realizes what he just told his sister. As he chews in meatloaf he looks at his sister, who looks very flabbergasted.

"Hold on. You saw the spaceship." ask Ellie for clarification on what Chuck just told her.

"Yeah. It was like right in front of me like you are right now." Chuck put down the fork.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Trust me, it was pretty big."

"OK. You touched it."

"Yeah. I pretty sure that I did." said Chuck, not remembering if he touched the spaceship or not.  
"Why didn't you tell anybody?" ask Ellie.  
"Because no one would believe me and thought I was crazy." reply Chuck, knowing that he would have to explain. "At that time, I was not a spy. I was an asset that needed to be protected. Casey was looking for a reason to stick me in an underground bunker. I was not going to have him think that I was crazy."

"Wow. I never realize how much you have seen."

"Yeah. I have seen a lot."

"Well, since you just got on everyone's good grace, I suggested that you don't tell them about Jenny's condition."

"Really?" Chuck's sister surprised him again. He did not expect his sister to say that.

"She did say that she is going to be human if you do see her. You wouldn't be lying. If you did tell Sarah and Casey, I am pretty sure that they wouldn't believe since you have no proof."

"That is true."

"You don't even know what Major Tom looks like. Even if you think that he is an alien, you probably will still freak out."

"That's probably right." Chuck acknowledges that fact. Excluding Jenny, he never really has seen an alien.

"But don't get too ahead of yourself. You still got to find her watch and her." Ellie simply pile on the obstacles.

"I don't even know where to begin."

"Well, this is where I can't help you. I can stitch you up or take care of you when you are sick, but I can't find people for you. That is outside of my expertise." Ellie pick up her fork and resume eating her food.

"I'm still trying to figure out how I can do this with a job."

"Hold on." Ellie simply put her fork done, surrendering to the fact that she was not going to eat her dinner warm. "You got a job?"

"Yeah. I have been meaning to tell you." Chuck down on the floor, slightly embarrasses to tell his sister.

"Chuck, that is wonderful. Why did you not tell me?" ask Ellie.

"Because it is at the Buymore." said Chuck in his softest tone, hoping his sister did not hear what he just said.

"Charles! What the hell?"

"It's not what you think."

"So, what is it?" ask Ellie, hoping for a good explanation.

"A few weeks ago, it was leaked out that the company was going to close down the Burbank location. People in the area started to send out letters to headquarter not to close it down. Within days, the company sends out a press release saying that it is not going to close it down, but remodel the whole store."

"Makes sense since Morgan blew it up."

"Anyway, they don't know that. All they know is the fact that it exploded. Official reports say that it was an electrical failure. It also meant that Lester and Jeff are no longer suspects." Explain Chuck.

"Get on with the story, Charles."

"Well, the company started to contact all employees at the time if they want their jobs back. Consider that the company was going to close the store down, a lot of them said no. With Morgan, he said yes as long as he was still assistant manager."

"Good for Morgan." said Ellie with a little pride in the long time friend of the family.

"They contacted me and asked if I wanted to come back. I said no." said Chuck as he stares at the meatloaf.

"OK. Since you said yes to them, how they made you say yes?" ask Ellie.  
"Since Big Mike set up that out of business sale without their authority when he found out that they were closing the store, the company fired him. It seems that a lot of the past employees did tell the big bosses that I ran the place when Big Mike was not there."

"They didn't?" Ellie saw it coming.

"They did. They offer me the management position." said Chuck. His sister accepts the fact that she was not going to eat her supper.

"Oh my god. You accepted the management position."

"Yeah. I did because I did not know what to do with the basement and what I was going to do about a job. I think I was still in shock about everything. So when they asked that I become the new manager over the store, I just simply said yes."

"I'm in shock. The store is going to let Morgan and you run the place."

"Yep."

"When are you two going to start?" ask the processing Ellie.

"I have my first store meeting with the employees tomorrow. Grand store opening is in a few days."

"I don't know why, but I find it very comforting that you have a normal job that does not consist of you carrying a gun even if it is the Buy More."

"Well, don't breathe a sigh of relief yet. Jeff and Lester still work there."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." wonder Chuck at the fact that he had to now control them.

He walks into the antique with purpose. He let the door behind him slams shut. With each step, the man wearing the red long leather jacket allow his focus to consume him. He passes by items that will be dust within the next century. He passes by grandfather clocks, old desks, and chairs that will not mean anything within a decade. It is a good thing that he did not want any of those things.

He approaches the man behind the counter, who is dressing in a suit that did not reflect the store. The storekeeper is reading a book, which has not been seen for many centuries. The store keeper look like his store: passed his prime. The beard look like it has not been trimmed in many years. The store keeper looks like he has lost enough hair to keep his aging ponytail. The color has left his hair, only to replace it with gray hair. He looks up from his book and gives his worst smile.

"Welcome to Superb items. If we don't have it, you don't want it." said the storekeeper.

"Cute. What do you have in pocket watches?" The storekeeper press a button and counter reveals its' contents. Within the counters are different types of watches.

"That is our inventory. The most valuable watches in the universe reside here. I have the watch that Hitler carried with him as he invaded Europe. I have the watch that goes backwards yet it still keeps very accurate time. I have the golden watch of Alexander the Conqueror as he lay waste all of Mars. I have also the watch that survived the Nova incident. It's all here." The store keeper takes the time to look over his new customer wearing the long red leather jacket. He notices for the first time that the man is carrying a sword on his back like a stereotypical katana blade. The pale skin and red hair was another thing that the storekeeper found odd about the man.

"I am looking for this watch." The man took out a picture to show the store keeper. The storekeeper looks at the picture with interest. Unfortunately, the face reveals the same thing that the man had encountered.

"Sorry. I don't carry pile of crap." The storekeeper did not bother his disgust at what he saw.

"Really. You have no idea what this is." said the man to the barkeeper, wondering if the barkeeper knew what he is talking about.

"Should I?"  
"If you want to maintain the illusion that you are an intelligent being, yes you should."

"Well, enlighten me. What is it?" The barkeeper hates posers. They always come into the store and tried to impress the barkeeper with their knowledge. After they do that, they always tried to haggle the price of an object, which the barkeeper finds very annoying.

"A Time Lord Watch."

"Never heard it."  
"It is very valuable. I think that there are only three of them in the whole universe." The barkeeper heard the implied word in the sentence: Rare. That is something that he likes to hear.

"Three? If I could find just one; that watch would make me rich beyond my imagination." said the old man with interest.

"Well. I doubt that you would be able to find it."

"Why not?"

"Because you are dead."

"What?" The storekeeper looks down and sees what the man meant. There is a sword the just piece his heart. The storekeeper never felt it or saw it. What he did feel was all sensation leaving his body. His lifeless body went limp with no life left in it.

The man pulls out his sword and sheaths it back. He look at the watch inventory to be sure that the dead storekeeper was not lying. Once he was satisfied, he reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small metal ball. He lie it down on the counter beside the lifeless body. He walks away in a calm fashion out the door.

He looks around at the area. There are many people in the area that are coming in and out of the stores. The man shook his head as he follows the crowd of people.

Within a minute of leaving the store, the small metal ball detonated an explosion that destroyed the store called Superb Items out of existence.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I can't believe that this is happening." said Chuck as he looks out the window of his office.

The Buy More is filled with chatter from the employees. The construction workers that the Buy More Corporation hired to renovate the burnt up store were phenomenal. Chuck cannot believe that they repaired all the damages that were caused by Agent Shaw's bombs. It is still the same old store with a new coat of paint. The floor is polish while every cash register is up to date. The backroom is organized with brand new metal shelves. The construction workers fix even the broken doors. In a weird way, it did give Chuck a smile to see all of this.

Chuck watches the employees talk among themselves. About half of the original workers came back. With the explosion, Chuck expected no one would come back. Chuck smile at being proven wrong.

"Tell me about it." reply Morgan as he straightens up his collar as he sits in the chair in front of his best friend's new desk. He is wearing the assistant manager shirt that had his name on it.

"We always thought about what we would do if we ran this store." Reminisced Chuck to his friend.

"I know." reply Morgan.

"I never thought it would happen." Chuck move away from the window and look at his best friend.

"Neither did I, especially now." said Morgan.

"So, we get to run the whole show." said Chuck not hiding his surprise in his voice.

"This is where we step up." said Morgan as he jump out of his chair, trying to pump up his best friend.

"That's right buddy. This is where we show our stuff."

Both friends look at each other knowing what the other is doing. Each friend is trying to psych the other up.

"So remind me why are you doing this?" ask Chuck. Morgan sits back down on the chair as Chuck walk behind the desk.

"General Beckman ordered me to stay in Burbank until I was notified on what they are going to do next." reply Morgan as Chuck sits down on his chair.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess there is a question about my status with the CIA. Considering a lot of my standing with them was hinge on you, they don't know what to do with me now that you are out of the game."

"Sorry, buddy."

"Don't worry about it. I can guess what's going to happen." Chuck could see that his friend was getting the case of the blues.

"Morgan. Don't get to down on yourself."

"Chuck. I know that I was only in it because of you. The fact is that I really don't have that much experience in this sort of thing. My best bet is the fact that they may think that I have potential. If they think that, they probably will actually get me in school of the CIA or NSA for actual training. If they don't like what they see in me, then I am still here."

"When you put it that way, things are looking good." said Chuck.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. You have nothing to lose. You don't get in the CIA; you are still assistant manager here. You have a good record of being an assistant manager while Big Mike was here. Let's not forget that the company wanted you back and they agreed to your terms. That's a good thing." points out Chuck to his friend.

"I know, but it's not like being a spy."

"Maybe not, but it is better then where we were a year ago."

"True." Morgan could remember his time sleeping in the entertainment room after his meltdown in Hawaii.

"We have not even explores the possibility that you do get in the training program at the CIA. You get to be a spy."

"Well, when you put it that way." Morgan could feel his blues out of his system.

"See, buddy. Things are looking good."

"They are." smiles Morgan.

"One thing."

"What?"

"Before you go and become the spy of our generation, I do need your help." It slips out of his mouth. Chuck is going to need help. His best friend is a good start to get help.

"Sure. Whatever it is." said Morgan without thinking.

"Not here or now. I got to talk to you after work."

"What is it?"

"It's about my dad."

"Gotcha." Morgan nod in his head in understanding. "So, should we go out there and command our troops?"

"Let's go." Both men get up from his chair. Morgan walks to the door and open it up for his friend.

Both men walk out of the office with purpose. Every one on the sale floor turns when they heard the door open. Chuck had a strut in his step. Morgan felt his own confidence growing with each step. With each step, the employees slowly got into line and kept quiet. Lester and Jeff got into line as they saw their new bosses. The employees did something that they have not done in a long time. They had smiles on their faces.

Morgan and Chuck stand in front of their own team. They look at each one of them. The best friends nod their head in approval of their own.

"Dude, I hate to say this, but this feels right." said Morgan.

"It's a small crew. But it will do." nod Chuck. He hated to say it, but Morgan was right.

"Chuck, it's your floor." Morgan step away from his friend.

"Alright team. You know who I am. I am Chuck. We have work with each other for a long time. I am glad that you came back after the incident. This meeting is pure and simple. It is supposed to be what we are going to do during our Grand Opening in a few days. Well, here is what we are going to do. We are going to be spectacular. We are going to get our clients to remember we are their one stop buying place. We are also going to remind the company why the Beverly Hill branch wants us closed down. Most of all, we are going to kick ass."

Everyone start to nods their head in approval.

"We are also going to have fun. Let's be honest with ourselves. We had some fun here."

Everyone agree with Chuck on that assessment.

"You know that I can run this branch and I am pretty lenient at times. Nothing is going to change. We are going to do what we can to have fun, but we are going to do this right. We are going to show everyone we are good even if he have to sic Lester and Jeff at them."

"Hey." reply Jeff to what he considered an insult.  
"Shut up, Jeff. El Captain is talking." said Lester. Everyone start to laugh.

"We got things that we need to get done. Morgan got the list. Let's get it done."

"All hail to Chuck." yell out Lester. Everyone start to holler in approval. Chuck start in bewilderment at the sight. Everyone start walk toward Morgan.

Chuck stares at the scene. He slowly step back and watch his friend tell each employee what they were going to do. Once Morgan was done, he gives them a high five. Chuck did not resist the smile that came over his face. He knows that this is temporary, but with everything that has happened, Chuck hated to say this: He needs to be here.

Chuck nearly did not hear the knocking on the front door. The first time he heard it, it was faint. He turn to be sure that he heard it right. The knock then became a banging. Everyone grew quiet. Chuck walk over the door. What he saw surprised him.

It is John Casey in his Buy More uniform.

Chuck stares at his friend waiting for him to open up.

"C'mon, Chuck. I don't have all day."

Chuck opens it up.

"Casey, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Washington." whisper Chuck to John Casey, the NSA agent who should be saving the world instead of working at a Buy More.

"I was. I came back."

"Why here." ask Chuck hoping that Casey knew what he meant.

"Yeah. That is part of my new assignment. Tell you about later though." Chuck nod in his head.

"Well, welcome back."

"Thanks. By the way, I found these guys waiting outside too." Casey points at a group of six individuals that stand behind him. Each one of them wearing a Buy More uniform: three male and three female.

"Hi."

"Chuck." said a blond happy woman in her young twenties. Chuck simply nods his head. "We are your new employees."

"What can I do for you on this fine day?" said the jeweler in the fancy suit who had been bored all day. He had been behind the counter for the most of the day. His co worker had gone to lunch leaving the bored jeweler behind to keep an eye on the store. Since no one came in the whole day, it seems like a pointless thing to do.

"I am looking at your watches." said the red hair woman who is focusing on the watches. The jeweler smiles, knowing that if he plays his cards right, he can get the sale.  
"We have plenty here, mum. Tell me what you need and I will get it for you."

"I am sure that you would." said the woman as she carefully survey the watches. The jeweler looks at her. He starts fighting this thought in his head that did not want to go away.

"I hate to say this, but you do look familiar."

"Trust me. This is my first time here."

"No, I know I have seen you before."

"No, you haven't" correct the red hair woman as she continue to look at the men's watches.  
"It will come to me." said the jeweler.

"I am sure that it wouldn't."

"So, who is it for?"

"My grand dad. His birthday is coming up."

"Well, we have fine watches here."

"So, I have been told….." She looks at pocket watch off to the side. It is silver and there is marking on it. "That watch. I want to see it." The red head point at the forgotten watch. She could see the dust on it.

"Sure." The man walks to the area and unlock the glass cabinet. He takes the watch out with care. "Rare antique, that one is. I never encountered it anywhere. I tried and I have tried."

He hand it to the woman, who take the pocket watch from the man. For a brief moment, she could hear a female voice from a distance. She closes her eyes and let the voice fade away. She opens up her eyes and look at the watch. She wipes off the dust from the pocket watch. She could see the marking clearer now.

"What's the markings stand for?"  
"Don't know. I posted online seeing that the internet is famous for porn and conspiracy theories. I hoped to get a hit, but nothing." said a disappointed jeweler.

She stares at it for a long time. In fact she stops listening to the man as he rambled on how he found it in a flea market in Virginia.

"I have seen this pocket watch somewhere."

"Really?" That caught the man's attention. He watches as the woman intently stare at the watch. He could see that she is trying to figure out where she has seen the watch. After a minute she simply stops trying.

"For the life of me, I don't remember."

"You know what they say." said the man in hope that it comfort the woman.

She looks up at the man.

"If you can't remember it, it can not be important."

"True. I would like to buy it. It looks perfect for my grand dad." The man takes the pocket watch off the woman's hand.

"So, will it be credit or cash?"

"Cash." The woman reaches inside her purse and takes out the cash she is going to use for the purchase. The man eagerly takes the money from her hands before she changes her mind.

"Do you want me to wrap it?" said the jeweler as he gives her back her change.

"No. I can do it myself." The man did his thing while the woman continues to look at the other watch. After he put the pocket watch in a small black box, he places the box in a small plastic bag. He takes the bad and hand it to the woman.

"Nice of you to come into my shop, Ms…."

"Ms. Temple-Noble." said Donna Temple-Noble as she takes the bag from the jeweler with a smile.

Morgan and Chuck watch as the employees straighten out the inventory in the store with pride from the home entertainment room. Both of them have a smile on their face.

"I can't believe that we are running this store." remark Morgan as he notices John Casey walking toward the room.

"That is the twelfth time that you said that." Chuck walks away from the window as he notices John Casey.

"Doesn't mean that it is not true." said Morgan as he walk from the window and look at his best friend.

"So, how are we going to do this?" ask Chuck.

"It's John Casey. Straight forward is the best." said Morgan.

"That's true, but is he going to tell the truth?"

"That is why we are in this room."

"You think that this room is still soundproof and free of bugs?" ask Chuck.  
"Yep."

"OK." said Chuck as John Casey walk into the room.

"You wanted to speak with me?" said John.

"Casey, close the door." said Morgan who seems a little thrilled being the boss over John Casey. Chuck knew better then to abuse the power considering that John knew 101 different ways to kill someone without making a noise.

John closes the door. Chuck picks up the remote and presses the button. The curtains slowly cover the windows.

"What's going on?" ask a very suspicious John Casey.

"Why is there six CIA operatives in the store?" ask Chuck. John made a face that showed a lot of disappointment.

"Son of a…." John kept the last word to himself. He shook his head in frustration. "How did you know?"  
"Yes!" proclaim Morgan in victory. He did not bother hiding his happiness. He turns to his friend and extends his hand. "Pay up."

Chuck reaches in his pocket and took out his wallet. He takes out a twenty dollar bill and put it in Morgan's hand.

"Wait a minute." said John who got back his friends attention. "Are you telling me that Morgan figured it out before you did, Chuck?"

"I am in denial. I couldn't figure out why CIA operatives would be here. There is no reason for them to be here. I figured that it couldn't be, but Morgan insisted that they were."  
"He didn't flash so I figure that they were not in the Intersect. I had a fifty-fifty shot. That is pretty good odds that I can't ignore."

"So, why are they here?" ask Chuck. John sits down on the sofa. Both friends join John Casey on the sofa.

"They are part of my new assignment." said John as he looks at them.

"What is your new assignment?" ask Chuck.

"I have to train them."

"What?" Both friends look at John Casey for an explanation.

"Ever since Chuck had been allowed to resign, General Beckman had been looking into what could be my next assignment. The trips that Sarah and I have been taking were not missions; they were meetings with General Beckman."

"Oh boy." said a surprised Chuck.  
"Let me finish. General Beckman had one problem that needed to be dealt with."  
"What is that?" ask Chuck. Casey did not answer, but only stare at Morgan.

"Wait. Why am I a problem?" said Morgan as he realizes that John was referring to him.  
"Everything that has happened to you was because of Chuck. By removing Chuck, you become a liability."

"Why am I a liability?"

"You are only an agent because Chuck and I insisted that you become one. Part of that reason was that you can keep Chuck from going stupid or crazy. Now that he is not in it any longer, your services are no longer needed." bluntly said John to Morgan.

"That is just mean." Morgan did not bother hiding his disappointment.

"Not done. The problem is the fact that you actually have been helping. Just within the short period of time of being an agent, you have been an asset. Capturing the Elders is not a feat that anyone can forget. You have potential and General Beckman cannot ignore that."

"I don't see the problem?"

"The fact is that you don't have enough experience. Do I have to remind you about the bomb that blew up the Buy More?"

"It was an accident."  
"It can't be ignored. General Beckman thought about sending you the academy. That idea died when she looked at your high school transcript."

"Oh." Both friends cringed at the thought.

"That was her face too when she saw it. Add that fact in and my current request in staying in Burbank, she was running out of options."

"Wait." said Chuck. "You are staying in Burbank."

"I got a daughter that I need to get to know, Chuck. I can still do the missions, but I want to spend time with her. I already told General Beckman and she agreed to let me be here and do missions on a limited basis."

"Wow that is nice of her."

"With Sarah wanting to resign as well, General Beckman didn't want to lose any agents. She was looking for ways to keep us and she found it." Casey looks straight at Morgan.

"What? I have not spoken with the General for about three weeks."

"She looks at you and Chuck and realizes something. She realizes that Sarah and I took two complete morons and turn them into somewhat competent agents."

Both friends did not expect a complement from John Casey.

"Imagine what would happen if she had us train the brightest recruits that the CIA and the NSA had to offer?" continue John Casey.

Chuck and Morgan's eyes widen. They got off of the sofa and went to the window. They move the curtain and look out in the sales floor. Each of them looks at the new people working on the sales floor. They let go of the curtain and look at John Casey.

"Welcome to Covert living. For one year, Sarah and I will be their teachers in the ways of handling long term covert operations. It will focus on the ramifications in dealing with mission and handling every day living. It will deal with maintaining a cover story for a long period time."

"Wow."

"At the same time, I get to train Morgan." said John Casey with a smile.

"Dude. Why are you smiling?"

"Chuck, I am going to need Morgan around noon until two today."

"Oh no." said Chuck with a little fear.  
"Dude. You are not helping me feel good." Said Morgan as he sees the fear on his best friend's face.  
"Chuck knows what is going to happen to you. We have our first sparring session at that time."

"Sparring?"  
"Yep. You will get your first session in hand to hand combat with me."

"Chuck that is a good thing, right." ask Morgan.

"Vaya con Dios, Morgan." Chuck walk out of the room, not wanting to answer the question.

"Oh god, no." said Morgan in fear for his life.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

She is sipping her tea from a ceramic mug. It is a white ceramic mug that said on the side the "World Greatest Teacher." She is reading this morning newspaper on the dining room table. There is a small red bowl filled with strawberries, blueberries and bananas. Beside the bowl is a lavender plate with sushi and waffles with rocky road ice cream on top of it. As she reads every word on the newspaper, she absorbs the information. The woman with the blonde hair and ponytail is dressed conservatively.

For a moment, she looks up from her newspaper and look at her lonely apartment. There is a telescope outside on her balcony. There are books everywhere in her living room. The carpet is a reddish color that is covered by newspaper that she forgot to throw away. The sofa is covered with magazines that have been read. There are cups on every table that she has forgotten to wash. While she takes regular baths, she tends to be a messy person. Still, she does not have time to clean up today.

She tosses the newspaper off to the side and start to devour her fruits. Within seconds, she devours her sushi and waffles ala mode. After she is done, she walks toward her refrigerator. She opens it up and takes out a plastic carton of mango juice. After drinking half the carton, she put it back and closes the refrigerator.

She has somewhere to go and people to see.

* * *

Chuck wakes up with a woman's arm wrapped around him. He turns hoping it is Sarah's body that is attach to the arm. Sarah is awake and lying beside him. She smiles at her boyfriend. Chuck let out a sigh of relief.

"Good morning." said Sarah with a smile.

"Good morning." reply the ever dutiful boyfriend.  
"How was your first day at work?" ask Sarah.

"It was not too bad. Everyone was working hard to be ready for the big grand opening, even your students. Long story short, smoothly." Sarah gives him a disappointed look. "Yeah. Casey told Morgan and me after we figured it out."

"Guess I have a lot of work ahead of me if I want these rookies to be good spies." said Sarah.

"So, how come you got in so late last night?" ask Chuck as he place his total focus on Sarah.

"You would not believe it if I told you."  
"I got some time before I have to go in."

"Fine. Do you remember who our six rookies are?"

"Just their faces, not their names." said Chuck.

Sarah slowly sits up from the bed. Chuck could tell that he is now dealing with the professional Sarah, not the girlfriend Sarah.

"OK. We have three guys and three women to train. We have Jake Harding. He comes from a family of agents. He is the guy that looks like he surfs.

"Thomas Monroe, he is our con man. He was found trying to con one of our men out of millions of dollars. It would have worked if it was not for the fact that one of our superiors walk in on the con. He impressed him so much that he got Thomas into the program.

"William Jefferson, he is our wild card. His file is completely sealed. The only thing that we know about him is the fact that General Beckman recommended him to be pushed to the academy. Casey figured that William Jefferson is a fake name. That being the case, Casey figured that he is military.

"There is Amber Long. She is the blonde. Very ditzy. Considering that she knows about six different languages, I think that it is an act.

"Tiffany Schultz is another military operative. Unlike William, her file is not sealed. Her training is sniper. She is very accurate according to her records. She does have one problem: She is not a pleasant person to be around.

"Finally, you got Jesse Smith. She has all the qualifications of a good leader if it was not for the fact that she has low self esteem.

"Six individuals who are the top of their class. Put them together and you don't know what to get." conclude Sarah to Chuck.

"It can't be that bad." Reassure Chuck to his girlfriend.

"Last night after the debriefing, they all decided that it would be a good idea to go to a karaoke bar and get smashed." With that, Sarah collapse beside her boyfriend, letting out a sigh of frustration.

"See, that's not a bad thing. Jeff and Lester do it all the time. Heck, Morgan and I do that every once in a while." Assure Chuck.

"No. It is a bad thing considering that one of them started a fight with a civilian." said Sarah as Chuck's reassurance got debunk by Sarah's last statement.  
"That is kinda of frown upon." Chuck decides to embrace his girlfriend.

"Just a little. Casey and I had to go back and get them out of their trouble. Needless to say that Tiffany is going to be dealing with Casey later on today." Chuck shiver at the thought.

"Good. Morgan can rest a little bit before his next training session with John."

"So, big manger, do you have time to spend with your girlfriend?"

"Depends. How long before you are missed?" ask Chuck.

"I got two hours to spare." Answer Sarah with a little glee in her voice.

"Then two hours it is."

Sarah and Chuck took their time getting out of bed.

* * *

She opens the door to hear a classroom of fifth graders talking about everything. Of course it was all boys, but that is how boys are. They are talking about girls, sports, and cars. She smiles at the fact that men do not really stray from those three topics even as they get older. Her boys are all wearing the white polo shirt and black pants. They each are wearing black dress shoes. While their hair style varies, they made sure that it was comb and neat.

Her classroom has twenty boys, each with their own desk. Her classroom has various posters on the walls. The posters have various historical figures from George Washington to Albert Einstein. She quietly walks toward her desk. Even with her high heels, none of the boys heard her. Her desk in the classroom is the only thing that she had kept neat. There is not a sheet of paper on the desk. There is only her attendance book, pencil, pen, and a desk nameplate. She places her mug of tea on her desk and made sure that it was not booby trapped. She sits down on her seat and look around at her boys. None of her student had even notices that she walk in.

"Hello, boys." She said with enough volume that everyone in the classroom should have heard her.

The fifth graders stop talking and rush to their seat. She smiles as they trip over themselves to get to their seat.

"How are my boys?" She asks with her smile beaming from her face.

"Good morning, Ms. Carmichael." They said it in unison, which she found humorous.  
"I can see that everyone is here."

"Yes, Ms. Carmichael."

"Even well behaved. That is surprising. It can not be the fact that we are taking a field trip within a few days." ask the teacher to her students.

"No, Ma'am"

"Even using Ma'am, I do not know what to think of this new development. It seems like my boys are ready to learn." Jenny Carmichael got up from her desk and approaches the chalkboard, ready to teach her class.

* * *

Chuck look at the two pictures on his computer. He posts the picture of the watch at various bulletin boards. He places the picture of Jenny on the database that his father constructed into the system. Considering how big the database, it will take some time for the computer to go through all the files to match with Jenny's picture. He leans back. Right now, it was the only thing that he can do. He had no starting point to bounce any search. He had just two shot in the darks.

He closes up the laptop and put it back in a box marked comic books. He places the box in the closet and closes it. While Sarah did not snoop, he rather keeps things hidden. After all, the laptop is not even the next generation of computers. It is about four generation ahead of its time. Short story, this laptop is something that every computer company would kill for.

While Sarah did spent some quality time with Chuck, that quality time was short. She had to get back to the Castle to get ready for the students. Chuck grudgely let her go.

Chuck walk out of his room and walk straight to the kitchen.

"Hey, man." Morgan is fixing up scrambled eggs by the stove. Chuck sniffs the air to make sure that Morgan is not burning the eggs. He smiles at the fact that Morgan did learn something during his time in Hawaii.

"Morning Morgan." Chuck is walking toward the refrigerator. He takes out the carton of orange juice.

"What's the schedule for today?" ask Morgan as he slide the eggs onto a plate. Chuck simply sits down in a chair and starts to pour the o.j. in a glass.  
"Same as yesterday. Get the store ready. We got a few more days left before we open. I just want to focus on that." said Chuck.  
"Dude. What about Sarah? Does she know?" Morgan sits down in front of Chuck with his eggs.

Last night was not a bust." While he waited for Sarah, Chuck told his best friend what his father left behind. Morgan just simply sat there and stared at his friend. After he was finished, Morgan went straight to the bathroom to finish his aftershock. After he came out, he sat down and simply exploded with excitement. After Chuck finished answering all of Morgan's questions, they both sat there wondering what was going happened next. After a half an hour, they went back to their rooms to get whatever sleeps that they could get.

"Not yet. She had a busy evening. She did not come in until about three. She left about thirty minutes after I woke up. She got a call from John to get to the Castle." Chuck takes another drink from his glass.

"Weird to think that she is teaching them how to be spy." Morgan eats another piece of his scrambled eggs.

"Well, it is a must."

"So, she does not know about the basement."  
"Not yet. I am going to tell her during lunch."

"You better. Sooner or later, she will find out and she will kick your ass."

"That is true."

"What about the girl?" asks Morgan. Chuck look at his friend. He did not know what to tell to Morgan about Jenny. After all, it is not his secret to tell. As much as Chuck believes that his friend would believe him, it is still a tough thing for him to simply tell his friend that there are alien. Chuck wonder how his sister is taking it at this moment. In the end, Chuck simply said that a hidden girl needs his father's help.

"All I can do is look up info. I don't really have anything to go on. Seriously. This girl is good. If she wants to stay hidden, which she does, I wouldn't be able to find her."

"I don't believe that."

"Why not?"

"Because she reaches out to your father. There has to be a reason for that. Has your dad ever met her?"

"According to the tape, no."

"OK. Let's think about this. She never met your father, yet she is asking for his help. It means that she knew something about your father. I don't know if that means that she knew that he was Orion or that he was a spy. Whatever it is, she was pretty confident that you dad can help her."

"OK." Agree Chuck.

"Since she wants to stay hidden, but only to certain people, she must have left something in order for your dad to find her." Continue Morgan with his train of thought.

"OK. Let see, there was nothing in the box other then the CD. I never really look into that."

"There could be a hidden file on that CD or the box is from somewhere exotic. She had to leave something for your father to find her."

"When did you get so smart?" ask Chuck.  
"Dude. It's like you always tell me when I busting my butt on a game. I am too close to it. Sometimes it is best just to walk away from it for a few days and then I will figure it out. Same thing. I'm not that close to it, so I can see it differently then you can."

"Good point."

* * *

He is eating his sushi like a rabid dog. He does not bother in enjoying the taste although it is exploding in his mouth. Whether he is aware of it, saliva is running down his chin. As he finishes chewing it, he grabs his bottle of sake. As he swallows the last bite of his sushi, he drinks from the bottle. As he finishes the bottle, the waitress replaces it with another one.

"Go on. Get out of here. I have no use for you now." said Major Tom as the waitress lay down another plate of sushi.

"Yes sir." The waitress is young and frighten. She has every reason to be. Major Tom just killed everyone in the restaurant except her and the cooking staff. She turns around and starts to run out.

Major Tom arrived in this century only a few hours ago. He looked up at the sky to see ships being launched into space. As he smiled at what century he was in, he noticed an almost extinct animal in an advance world. He approached the pay phone. He dialed a number that he knew was going to work. Even though he got video mail, he left one to the owner.

After walking a few blocks, Major Tom saw a restaurant. With his stomach screaming for food, he went in. Once he encountered a snobby waitress and hostess, it did not take long for Major Tom to decide that he wanted to eat in peace. He took out his blaster and proceeded to clear the restaurant the only way he can.

"Tell the cooks that they can leave too." yells out Major Tom to the running waitress. He places his focus back on the plate of sushi when he hears the door open. Since the sound is behind him, he knows that it can't be the waitress or the cooking staff. Someone is coming in the restaurant.

It did not faze the man as he continues eating the sushi. Even when the man in the black trench coat sits down in front of him, Major Tom did not stop eating. The man in the black trench coat watches as Major Tom eats. He sees the plate of sushi and the bottle of sake in front of Major Tom. He also sees the blaster beside the bottle of sake. The man in the black trench coat takes out his own blaster and places it in front of him.

"Major Tom." said the man in the black trench coat.

"Frank." said Major Tom as he finally finished his sushi.

"What are you doing back in this century?" ask Frank as Major Tom drinks the bottle of sake.

"I am searching for someone." reply Major Tom.

"OK. Let me rephrase that question? How the hell are you out? Last thing that I heard about you is the fact that you are doing 5 consecutive life sentences." said Frank.  
"Oh, you know. I do still have a crew unlike you." Major Tom said it with a smile that would send a chill up the spine of men that did not know him.

"What can I say? I was never a team player or a team captain. I like to do things by myself." Frank did not let the smile intimidate him.

"Always seems weird that you were a Time Agent."  
"Former Time Agent. I got out before all of that crap happened." said Frank with a little pride.

"Be glad that you did. A lot of Agents did not make it out." reminisces Major Tom.

"That is what I heard. I can't really say that I am shedding any tears for them. Anyway, you still have not answered my question. Why are you here?" ask Frank again.

"Again. I did. I am searching for someone."

"That's it. Why don't you find this special someone on a dating site?"

"Because she is hiding." Frank could hear the frustration in Major Tom's voice.

"From you, that is to be expected. You are a murderous individual." said Frank with a smile.

"And you are controlling murderous individuals. What is your point?' argue Major Tom.

"None. You really expected this person to make it easy to find them."

"Her."  
"Fine. Her. Why am I here?"

"Can you still access the information from the Time Vortex?" ask Major Tom revealing his real reason in calling Frank.  
"Yeah. But you know that the information from the Time Vortex is so unreliable. I wouldn't even guarantee anything." reminds Frank to his former colleague.

"That is fine. I am not looking for the scores six centuries ago. I just want to know who had been in the Vortex within the past few years."

"Seems difficult enough. I should be able to get you what you want within a month." Frank stares at the bottle of sake with the intent of drinking it.

"Good." smiles Major Tom with some happiness.

"Should I be looking for anything specific?" ask Frank.

"Give me tomorrow. I should be able to give you something to narrow down the search."

"So, are you going to kill me?" ask Frank. Major Tom smile at the fact that Frank did not bother hiding his own concern.  
"No."

"You better not be lying to me."

"I'm not. You are one of the few people I can tolerate in this universe." Frank lend back with some skepticism over this new found fact.

"Jeez. I can feel the love from here."

"Trust me. You wouldn't feel it if I didn't like you." Frank stare at Major Tom's sword, knowing full well what it has done for Major Tom

"Alright." Frank lifts his head as if he heard something. "The law enforcement is coming. You better get going."  
"I get out of here when I am done with my sushi."

"Whatever." Frank gets up from his seat and start walking toward the exit. "Where do you want to meet?"  
"I will find you."

"Sure." Frank walk out the door leaving Major Tom with his sushi. As he walks out, he could feel the cool air of the night. He walks the opposite direction of the sirens. He knows what is going to happen and wants no part of it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

This is different for Chuck. As he takes another look at the store, Chuck had to take another deep breath. For the past two days, he had been busy making sure that the store is up to par. Considering that he had six spies in his store, he did not figure it would be too hard. Unfortunately, Chuck forgot that not everything is going to go smoothly at his Buy More. He had a grumpy spy that nearly beat the crap out of some employees, Jeff and Lester avoiding the talkative spy, John Casey trying to make sure that the spies were learning something and elaborate grand design of the company for a grand opening, and Chuck found himself slightly a nervous wreck.

After all the confusion and hiccups, the store is ready. The floors are not completely shiny. The shelves are filled with various products that all customers will buy. Someone actually spit shine the Nerd Herd sign. Chuck nod in approval as he heads toward the door.

As he set the alarm system, Chuck already did the all clear. No one is in the store. Chuck is alone. He sent Morgan home because he wanted some time alone. If he was not here, he was busy exploring his father's basement….his basement filled with his father's gadgets. He had been so busy getting the store running, trying to find any leads on Jenny, and looking at the stuff that Chuck could feel himself being over extended. Chuck needed some space just to chill.

For an hour, he had been sitting in the entertainment room just getting his bearing. Chuck did not realize how much he was taking on. This is a situation that he is not used to being in. He is not simply the support for the spies any longer. He was not the blunt instrument send out to do a job. He is the leader. He is the man who makes the decision. He is the man that had his own resources, not a government resources being used to stop things. The scary part is the fact that he did not have much support backing him up. Morgan can only do so much. Chuck did not realize how alone he was feeling until it hit him earlier in the afternoon.

He was getting back from lunch when he saw Tiffany Schultz throwing a red bouncing ball at the side of the Buy More building. As it hit the wall, it bounces back to her. She caught the ball and threw it back.

Tiffany almost looks like a female John Casey. She had the short brown hair. Even wearing the Buy More polo shirt and khakis, anyone can tell that her built definitely screams work out queen. As she threw the red bouncing ball at the side of the building, Chuck could tell that she had accuracy. If she was not with the Army, she would have been a great baseball player if they had women on the teams. Her reaction time was impressive as the ball bounced off the wall and back into her hands.

"Hey." She turned toward Chuck's voice. Tiffany tries to smile. Chuck recognized the smile as the Casey special.

"Hey." Tiffany placed her focus back to her ball as she threw it back at the wall.

"What's wrong?" asked Chuck.  
"Excuse me?" said Tiffany as she kept her focus at the ball coming back to her.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing." Chuck recognized that as the Sarah specialty. Something was bothering the female spy but she did not want to share it. Chuck simply lean back and watched as the spy kept throwing the ball at the wall.  
"Ok."

Chuck simply watched as Tiffany threw the ball harder. Every throw, she threw even harder.

"Are you sure?" asked Chuck one last time.

"I got into a fight." replied Tiffany without hiding any annoyance.

"Oh."

"Yeah. It's not really a big thing. Nothing that I can't handle. Couple of the guys in the bar tried to hit on Amber. She can handle them, but they were being very persistent and annoying." said Tiffany as she kept threw the ball.

"That is when you step in." figured Chuck.

"Yeah. Next thing I know, I am beating the crap out of them."

"Wow."

"You would think that five grown men would be harder to beat down." Chuck took a step back from angry spy.

"Impressive." complemented Chuck.

"I thought so, until the cops arrived. They haul all of us to jail." said Tiffany.

"Ouch."

"It's not too bad. We got out and no one is pressing charges."

"So, you haven't answered my question." pressed on Chuck to the spy that threw her small ball at the wall.

"I got chewed out."

"Oh." Chuck knew what that meant. Sarah or John Casey delivered the wrath of god onto the students.

"Yeah. I did not expect it to be this way." said Tiffany after a minute of silence between the two.

"What do you mean?" asked Chuck.

"My life."

"It can't be that bad."  
"I was in Paris last year. The year before that I was in Kuwait. I have been in South Korea, China and now I am in Burbank." Tiffany stressed the last word hard. He recognized the tone. He had it after he got expelled from Stanford.

"Burbank seems boring to you." said Chuck.

"Boring is not the word."

"So, why are you here?"

"Opportunity to advance. I had to take it." Chuck could see that she was keeping it vague enough that he should think it was about the Buy More, not the CIA. After all, the rookies still did not know anything about Chuck's involvement with the CIA/NSA.

"So, you are wondering if you made a mistake." guessed Chuck.

"Yeah. No. I don't know. It has been a while since I got my butt handled to me."

"Trust me. It happens to the best of us." said Chuck with images of his greatest hits flew in his mind.

"Well, it doesn't to me. Last time that happened was in eighth grade."

"Wow. That's pretty good."

"I am a perfectionist."

"Really?"

"NO! I just don't do stupid thing. Last night was a stupid thing." Tiffany kept throwing her red ball.

"Ok. So, you are just frustrated by everything right now."

"Yeah." The ball bounced off the wall and headed straight to Chuck. He caught it and tossed it back to the wall.

"Well, relax." Said Chuck as the ball went straight back to Tiffany.

"Excuse me?" Tiffany caught the ball and threw it back to the wall.

"Relax."  
"OK." Tiffany seems confused by Chuck command. This time she caught the ball and kept it. She turned and looked at Chuck, looking for an explanation.

"Tiffany. You are at a different level then most people. You are not at the top of the ladder. You are at the bottom of a different ladder all together that most people never will see. It also means that you are going to make mistakes. It also means that you will be in a place that you did not expect. The good thing is that you are not getting killed by your mistakes here. You can make mistakes here. It's Burbank." Chuck could see that she was processing the information that he just gave her. Chuck simply waited for her to really process it.

"That is true. What could happen here?"

"As for the fight, don't worry about that. If you are getting chewed out because you were having someone's back, then you are doing alright."

"Really." Chuck could not believe that Tiffany was actually listening to him.

"Yeah. People have to know that they can trust you to have their back. You think that that the guys inside the store have my back because I am cool." Tiffany let out a chuckle. Chuck had been used to that since he was in high school. Being cool was never Chuck thing.

"You're not cool." reiterated Tiffany.

"I know, but they know that I got their backs if something happens. No question about it even when I don't want to and trust me with this crew that happens a lot."

"They screw up a lot."

"They had a fight club in the backroom a few months ago."

"You mean that lot had a fight club. You can't mean like the movie." Chuck could hear the disbelief in Tiffany's voice.

"Yes, I mean the movie."  
"Oh my god."

"The scary part is the fact that is not unusual."

"Oh my god." Tiffany looked at Chuck with astonishment. "How did they get away with that?"  
"They paid the price. You don't get hit and expect someone not to notices. But that is not the point."

"The point is the fact that they trust you because you have their back and that I should not dwell on the chewing out." concluded Tiffany.

"Exactly." Chuck could tell that she processed it. He slowly walked back inside.

"Thanks."

"You are welcome." It was once he got inside that he realized that he was the leader of this group. He was the one they look to for advice even when they were not looking for it.

As Chuck locks the door of the Buy More, time was coming up for him to really be the leader. If he had any chance in figuring out what went on in his dad's life and finding Jenny, he had better start making the right decisions.

"Hey, stranger." Chuck turn to see Sarah standing there in her Orange, Orange uniform.

"Hey, you. What are you doing here?"

"C'mon, Chuck. You are my boyfriend. I haven't seen you since this morning."

"Well, you have been busy." said Chuck.

"Yeah. It has been a fun afternoon. I had sparring session with the girls."

"How are they doing?" ask Chuck.

"Well, right now not good." said Sarah with a devilish grin.

"How come?"

"John Casey is giving them their weekly mission."

"Oh. Spying on some drug lord." figures Chuck.

Sarah looks at her boyfriend trying to figure out what to say to him.

_ "Your mission is pretty easy. In fact, it is so easy that if you get caught, you automatically are getting sent back to the academy." said John Casey._

_ John looks at the rookies. Each of them had their confidence pummeled the past few days. He had been making sure that each of them knew their short coming. _

_ Amber, Tiffany, and Jesse got killed by Sarah Walker in their sparring session. Each of them is holding ice bags on various places on their bodies. The guy felt the egos shattering as they found out that Morgan is a spy and they were not. The fact that Morgan found out that they were spy did not help any one of the rookies._

_ "It's pretty simple. Find out Chuck's secrets."_

_ "Wait a minute. You mean our boss at the Buy More." ask Thomas with shock in his voice._

_ "Yes, that Chuck."_

_ "Wait a minute. You mean we get to spy on Chuck?" Amber had too much glee her voice when she said that. John Casey looks at the perky blond with a little concern. _

_ "Yes, you got a week to find out. You get caught by Chuck and you will be sent back. Do I make myself clear?" ask John to his students.  
"Does it matter how we do it?" ask Amber._

_ "Correct."_

_ Each rookie nods their head. John smile at the fact that he thought he knew Chuck's secrets._

"Something likes that." said Sarah as she knew what John Casey was telling to the rookies.

"So, I haven't eaten yet." said Chuck.  
"Sound like a plan." Chuck look at his girl and realize that now had to be the time.

"You know what. Actually I need to talk to you about something." Said Chuck with a lot of apprehension.

"Sure."

"There isn't a bug in your car is there?" ask Chuck.  
"Not yet."

"I wouldn't even ask why you just said that. Beside, I got to tell you something."

"You got your serious face on." Sarah could feel her concern growing for Chuck. Whatever it is, it had to be important.  
"Yeah. It's important."

* * *

Major Tom looks at the lab that Frank had set up. It was a typical mad scientist's lab. There are a lot of computer monitors in the room. There is a huge computer off to the side. It covers the west wall of the room. Frank is sitting in his chair looking at the monitor. The monitor is showing bizarre characters that Major Tom did not understand.

"What am I looking at?" ask Major Tom as he continue to stare at the monitor, hoping that inspiration would hit him.

"Not going to tell you." Said Frank as he looks at the monitor and resuming imputing the data into the computer.

"Why not?" ask an offended Major Tom.

"Because you would kill me." said Frank as he continues to input the data. Major Tom nod at the statement.

"You know me too well."

"Being your partner for a decade does that to a person." said Frank with a small smile.

"Why did you stay with me?" ask Major Tom as he remember the times that the former Time Agent had with each other.

"Simple. You did not annoy me and you had your moments." said Frank as he looks at the monitor.  
"I never knew that." said Major Tom as he learns something about his former partner. He notice that Frank is looking at the monitor a little too long. "Did the information that I gave you helped?"

"Kind of. Let's say that my month was very enlightening."

"Why?"

"I never knew how many species had the technology to travel the Time Vortex." said Frank.

"Oh." Major Tom did not let hide his surprise.

"You are surprised by this?" Frank look at Major Tom to be sure that he was telling the truth. For a murderous opportunistic individual, Major Tom is not always that bright. He did have a cruel streak that knows no bounds, but he did not know everything.  
"I just never thought about it." said Major Tom with a blank look on his face.

"Tom. You have a Time Agent watch. You are able to travel in time. It stands to reason that other species would have the tech." Frank did what came naturally: He had to explain it to his former partner.  
"Again, I never thought about it."

"Well, they are. Time converters are being used. Thankfully for you, not a lot of species can afford it. Time Converters are only for the rich." Point out Frank.  
"Story of the universe." There is a little bitterness in Major Tom's voice.

"Well, I do have a list of their destinations."  
"How many is on this list of yours?"

"About 54500."

"Oh." The surprises continue to hit Major Tom.

"The rich like to travel."  
"OK. Let's get started."  
"Well, let's narrow it down. Anything about your target that may help us." asks Frank.

"She loves to travel."

"Let me rephrase my question. Anything that may help narrows down this list." Frank did not miss this part of the partnership: Guiding his partner in the line of thought.

"She loves to find the extraordinary events."

"OK. That narrows it down to every one of them."

"Not helping." said Major Tom.

"Well, give me something useful."

"Fine. Try the past specifically before the thirtieth century." said Major Tom as he tried to remember about Jenny preference.

"OK. That narrows the list down to 46750."

"Crap. This is going to take a while."

"Probably. Anything else." asks Frank.

"She is a pain in my butt." said Major Tom in frustration. He steps away from his former partner, not wanting to be so close to him at the moment.  
"Again, I need useful info. Try and keep focus."

"Fine. Just start telling me the destination. I'll tell if it sound like somewhere she would go."

"You're serious." ask Frank.

"Do I look like I am joking? That is how she works."

"In that case, you better go out and get something for us to drink because I will not do this somber."

"Fine." Major Tom heads to the door looking for what his former partner's preference in drinking habits.

* * *

She looks around the basement with a little apprehension. Sarah always knew that Chuck was special. Of course, she just assumed the fact that she was in love with him, the fact that Chuck help everyone that needs help, the fact that he is sweet, and the fact that he is smarter than most males. As Sarah look at the basement, she realize that she did not know the Bartowski family well enough.

As she stares at her surroundings, she reviewed what she knew about the Bartowski family. Ellie and Chuck both got a scholarship to the respective colleges. Stephen Bartowski was part of the Intersect project. Chuck was even considered to be brought in the CIA while in college. Of course, Ellie is a doctor.

What this basement spoke volumes in what she did not know about Stephen Bartowski. She turns to her Chuck. He had that goofy look on his face. One thing that she loves about him is the fact that he can only hide something for so long until he has to say something. In the old days, Chuck could not keep a secret. She had to be his support in helping do that. Something tells her that she still have to be his support.

Unfortunately, this new revelation about Stephen further reinforces the General Beckman's fears and concerns.

* * *

"_I need you two to stay in Burbank." said General Beckman. Both agents look at her with confusion. While Sarah and John Casey were not going to fight this command, they did not understand why General Beckman wanted this._

_ It had been two weeks since Chuck turned his resignation to General Beckman. For the two agents, they were still concern about what the General was going to ask of them to do. Neither one had any desire in leaving Burbank. Still, they were agent of the US Government. The General contacted them to meet her in her office ASAP. Like good agents, they agreed. Twenty four hours later, Sarah Walker and John Casey are sitting in the General's office._

_ "Ok." said John Casey agreeing with the General._

_ "General, I am with Casey with this on. We have no problem with that, but why?" ask Sarah._

_ "Chuck is still the Intersect. While the project is being scrapped in developing a new Intersect in light of Stephen Bartowski's passing, we cannot ignore the fact that Chuck is still the Intersect. Beside, I have other concerns." said the General as she lean back in her chair. _

_ "Beside the fact that the Intersect in Chuck's head could go all wrong." said John. Sarah turns to look at her partner. It look like that her partner had been thinking about this. _

_ "Yes. That is one of my concerns. No. My main concern is Chuck himself." said the General._

_ "Chuck can take care of himself." defends Sarah to the General. _

_ "That is not it. I fear that Chuck is a magnet for trouble." said General Beckman with a lot of concern in her voice. _

_ "You think that trouble will be looking for him." ask Sarah. She never thought about it. After all, he was/is a competent agent._

_ "Yes, we also know that if it comes looking for Chuck, we both know that Chuck is not going to simply do nothing. If some innocent bystander is caught in the middle of something, we know that he will try to help."_

_ "Yeah." agree John Casey with the assessment._

_ "That is true." said Sarah. _

_ "That is why we need to find an actual reason to keep both of you in Burbank. As of right now, I have several individuals requesting your assistance with their missions. While I should honor their requests, I know better than to leave Chuck out in the cold. If something happens, I want to be sure that you are backing up Chuck. That is why we are having these meetings. We need a reason to justify the both of you being in Burbank."_

_ Both agents nod in agreement. _

_

* * *

_

"Wow. This is incredible." said Sarah.

"I know." Agree Chuck.

"Your father was a spy."

"I know."

"The fact that he was able to construct the Intersect and the Governor while being one made him a scary individual."

"I was thinking of the same thing."

"Have you told anyone?" ask Sarah.

"Just Morgan and Ellie." answer Chuck

"You told Ellie."

"Bartowski's secret. I figured that she should know first."

"Good point. I can't blame you."

"Thanks."

"So, are you going to just stand there or are you going to give me the tour?" said Sarah with a smile. Chuck smiles back which gives Sarah some assurance that he need her to be on his team. She will always be on his team even when he doesn't think so. This is game changer and Sarah did not know what to do next other than be on his team.

* * *

"Boston, 1812." Ask Frank  
"No. That places suck." Reply Major Tom as he takes another drink from the bottle.  
"OK. Mars in the 2999."

"No, Too cold and too bloody."

"Fine. How about the disco era in New York?"  
"Dude. She is not that type of gal."

"Dude. I am drunk and I don't care." said Frank as he takes another drink from his own bottle.

"I am drunk too, and I do care."

"Fine. How about 2004 in Burbank California?"

"Now, you are just messing with me."

"No am I not?" Frank shoves the list in Major Tom's face. "See. Right here. Burbank, California, Earth, 2004. Someone thought that Burbank in 2004 is an interesting place."

"That makes no sense. Nothing was happening during that period at that place."

"Really?"

"I am thinking. Give me a second." Frank stares at his partner as he thinks. "Nope. Nothing. Who the hell wants to go there?"

"I don't know, but someone did." said Frank.  
"There is nothing there that would interest anyone. I mean go to Tokyo or New York, not Burbank." Argue Major Tom.

"Dude. Settle down. It can't be that bad. It is still in California."

"No. No one in their right minds would go there or think about it. It makes perfect sense."

"Dude. You just lost me." said Frank as he got lost in Major Tom's line of thinking.

"She would go there just to throw me off." Major Tom stands up from his chair. "Crap. That means that she had time to hide. That is why she went there. So many people and so many places to hide."

"OK. I will take your word on that."

"Dude, she is there. I know it."

"Good for you. It only took us five bottles of hard liquors and 2034 place to figure that out." said Frank as he finishes off his bottle.

"Crap. I am so drunk." said Major Tom as he sits back down.

"Well, whose fault is…..?"

"Yeah, Yeah. I know. Can I crash here?" ask Major Tom.  
"Promised not to kill me." ask Frank.

"I promise. I would never kill you."  
"Liar."  
"Dude, seriously, you are like my only friend. I got crew but no friend." Major Tom got a little serious.

"Whose fault is that?" ask Frank.

"They are dumb. They barely can form a sentence…"

"Like you."  
"Dude. Seriously. You have seen me at my worst and best. I trust you."

"Dude that is messed up if you trust me." point out Frank.

"That is because I know you."

"Fine. Crash on my sofa."

"Thanks. I will be gone the first thing in the morning. I got some hunting to do." smile Major Tom.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Today is the day. It had been a long time coming, but the day had finally arrived. Today is the grand re-opening of the Buy More. The excitement is in the air as the housewives formed a line in front of the store. Each housewife had their strategy. One housewife is wearing running shoes. One housewife is stretching her legs. One housewife has a taser in her purse. While each housewife had a different strategy, they each had the same purpose: Get the best deal on the stuff they want.

From a distance from the Buy More store, Jeff and Lester peek from behind the van with fear. The van is in the Buy More's parking lot; just far away that no one would notice the two employees. They shiver in fear at the upcoming swarm. The women are checking out their watches, leaning up against the wall or talking to each other. Both Lester and Jeff gulp in fright.

"How long have they been there?" ask Lester as he continues to look at the line.

"Well, I never left the parking lot since last night, so they have been here since midnight." answers Jeff.

"You have to be kidding me?" said Lester in disbelief.

"I hate to say this, but it is not a big surprise. I found out that the Buy More sent out mail flyer about the grand re opening. The company even put up a big one page ad announcing our grand re opening in the newspaper. Let's not forget about the e mails, website and commercials about it. Here is the bad news: All of those sales prices are only for us."

"What?" Lester looks at his friend who still smells of beer.

"Yep. This sale is for only this store. Rumor has it that the Buy More in Beverly Hill are mad about that. All of their customers are probably in that line."

"Oh dear god." Lester places his focus back on the line of customers. Jeff place his own focus back on the line as he gulp in fear.

"Yeah."

"Jeff, I don't want to work today. You know what Chuck wants us to do?"

"No." answers Jeff.

"Of course not. You weren't paying attention. Chuck wants us to be the greeters." reply Lester.

"No way." Jeff felt fear in his beer filled heart.

"That is right. We are the old man at Big Mart."

"Not cool. So what are we going do?" ask Jeff.  
"I don't know. We only got three hours to figure this out."

"Figure out what?" ask a female voice. Since it was not something they were used to, Jeff and Lester jump aside. They turn to the voice to see that Amber standing there. Her blonde hair seems to reflect the sunlight.

"Holy crap, how long have you been there?" ask Lester.

"Only for a second." answer the blonde agent.  
"How did you know that we were here?" ask Jeff. Amber point to her car which is only a few parking spaces over to their right.

"I saw you spying at that line of people." Both men nod in agreement that they should have thought of that. "So, why are we watching the long line of women?" Both men seems a little confuse at the question.  
"Amber, how long have you been in retail?" ask Lester for clarification.

"This is my first retail job." reply Amber. Considering that she had been in private school, went to the university on a scholarship, and was recruited by CIA, she did not have to lie to them.

"Oh my god, she is a virgin." said Jeff in creepy way.

"No, I am not." replied Amber in anger.

"That is not what he meant." said Lester.

"Yes, it was." said Jeff.

"He meant that you never experienced a full blown crazed mob filled with a crazed obsession to purchase stuff." clarify Lester as he ignores Jeff's remark.

"No." Amber look at them with a little concern.

"Trust me. It is nothing like you ever experience. Each woman in line will look at you like a piece of meat that is standing in their way of a deal of a lifetime."

"I remember one Black Friday that I was punched in the face by a sixty year old woman just because I was in her way of a CD." add Jeff.

"Remember that time that I got mugged in the parking lot for my clothes." ask Lester.

"Oh yeah. That woman used it to open the back door of the store and then the swarm entered the store. That was so not cool." remembers Jeff.

"Jeez. You guys act like this is war." said Amber.

"Sweetheart, whatever sweetness is in you will be kicked out by the end of the day." said Lester.

"Don't listen to the moron." said a new female voice. The group turns to see Tiffany walking up behind Amber. Both men did take a step away from her.

"Hey, Tiffany." said Amber.

"Hey, Amber."

"First off rookie, this is the Buy More. Things run slight differently here." defend Lester.

"Please, I worked retail. This is nothing." said Tiffany.

"Oh, really. How much you want to bet that you will snap at someone by the end of the day." asks Lester to Tiffany.

"Depend, how much you want to bet that you pee your pants today?" add Tiffany to what she see as an easy bet.

"Lester, I think that she is challenging you." points out Jeff. He moves away from Lester to get closer to Amber. Tiffany slowly walks up to Lester. While she is taller than Lester by a few inches, Lester takes a deep breath and stands his ground.

"Please. I can handle this. But if you want to bet then you are on. What are your terms?" ask Lester. Tiffany smile at Lester.

"OK. You pee your pants. You buy me a round of beers tonight." said Tiffany at what she considers an easy bet.

"Hey, what about me?" said Amber.

"Fine. You snap at someone, you buy the round for me and Jeff. I pee, I buy beers for you and Amber." said Lester.

"Dude." elbows Jeff to Amber. "We just scored."

"I know." said Amber with a smile as they watch Tiffany and Lester shake hands.

"Easiest bet I ever made." said both parties as they let go.

"Let's go Jeffery. Let's show the rookies how it is done." Jeff and Lester start walking straight to the store.

"C'mon, Amber. We got some beer to score."

"Oh, goody." said Amber. Other then the fight from the other night, this has been the most fun Amber had since arriving in Burbank.

* * *

Sarah sits in her chair looking at the monitors. She has a strawberry smoothie beside her hand. She watches as the swarm of people walk into the Buy More. She watches as the rookies try to be good employees. She watches as Lester and Jeff direct the crowd. She watches as Chuck walk amid the crowd. She watches as John Casey demonstrate the Cook Master grill to the ladies outside the building. Even now, people are stopping in front of the Buy More for the free food.

Sarah taps her finger on the counter. While she is in the Orange Orange uniform, she kept her vigilance as she watch the monitor.

"Agent Walker." said a voice. Sarah turn to see the big monitor had the General Beckman face.

"General." Sarah knew that the General was going to call. It was part of the arrangement that John and Sarah set up with her: Weekly reports to the General about the students and Chuck. This call had been on the back of her mind ever since Chuck shows her the basement. Considering what Sarah knew about Chuck, she had to word this carefully. She did not want to betray Chuck's trust in her, but she knew that this was something General Beckman had to know.

"Are we alone?" ask the General.

"Yes, sir. Currently all rookies are in the Buy More for the grand reopening of the store. John Casey is there as well." said Sarah.

"And Chuck?"

"Too busy keeping everything under control since he is their new boss." answers Sarah with a little pride.

"Is he any good?" ask the General. Sarah looks surprised by the question.

"General. Considering that he has experience running the store while Big Mike was doing something else that has never really been a question. To answer it, yes, he is very good at it." answer Sarah.

"What about his thought about returning to the life?" Sarah knew what the General meant by the life. She meant being a spy.

For a moment Sarah start to think what would be the appropriate answer to this question. What she saw in the basement was a game changer. It was like Chuck reading the e mail that Bryce Larken sent to him three years ago. It is only a matter of time before something happens that would bring him right back in. Still, Chuck did share the secret with Sarah in private. Sarah took a deep breath to figure out she is going to say.

"I think that is going to happen, General." said Sarah hoping that the General did not ask for any details.

"Really?" The General did not hide her surprise by this statement.

"A new revelation has come into light in Chuck's life. It is making him re consider his decision." Sarah hope the vague statement is enough for the General.

"Should I worry?" ask the General.  
"I don't know yet. It is too early to tell if this is going to be big. But your concerns were correct."

"I was afraid of that." sigh the General. "Agent Walker, is the situation manageable?"  
"Yes. He is just in the beginning stages. I don't think Chuck know what he is going to do at the moment. However, I do think he will get involved in some form."

"Do I dare ask in what?"

"I don't know. I don't think even Chuck know what he is getting into. I will have more information about it later. I do think that he will need guidance on the next step." assess Sarah to the General.

"Good thing that he has friends that has experience in the matter." remark the General.

"It is a good thing." affirm Sarah to the General.

"Keep me up to date in the Chuck situation. As for the rookies, how are they doing?"

"They are rookies. They don't know any better." said Sarah with some frustration in her voice.

"Well, that is why you are there. Makes sure that they do know better."

"I will."

"Good. One question for you Agent Walker."

"Yes."

"Why are you in the Castle as opposed to not by Chuck's side?" ask the General.  
"I realize something."

"What would that be?" ask General Beckman.

"The Buy More is a magnet of trouble. Agents seem to have a tendency of walking in the Buy More at the most inconvenient times." explain Sarah.

"You think that since this is the grand re opening that something might happen." The General was following Sarah's line of thinking.

"Yes."

"Considering the history of the store, I don't blame you. Keep me posted."

"Yes, General."

The monitor went black. Sarah place her focus back on the monitor, pick up her smoothie and sip it.

* * *

The kids step out of the bus. They look around at the strip mall, which did not impress them. As the chaperons are watching the kids, Jenny step out of the bus. She looks at her boys. Each one of them were either listening or talking to the other. Like all class, there were the cliques. She can point out the athletics, brains, fanboys, and the outsiders. It did not matter to her. They were her boys and that is all that matters. She whistled loudly that she attracted anyone within the block. The boys shut their mouth and place their attention to their teacher.

"Alright. Remember, we are getting something to eat and then we are going to the observatory. We have one hour to eat." said Jenny.

"Ms. Carmichael." One of her boys raised his hand.

"Yes, William." reply Jenny.

"Does it matter where we go to eat?"

"Like I said before while you were talking to Robbie about the Playboy that you found in your father's garage, William." William became embarrassed by the fact that he got caught from his teacher and the chuckles that he received. "We have five choices here in this area. One chaperon per place. You go with that chaperon on where you want to eat."

"OK." said William as he got elbowed by his friend.

"Now let's eat." She watches as everyone went to their favorite chaperon. She watches as they got to their favorite restaurant. She watches with a smile on her face. Once she felt sure that each one of them was with a chaperon, she start walking to the deli that the bus parked in front.

As she open the door, a small bell rung. It surprised her to see that the deli is not busy. She sees a brunette clean the tables. The brunette looks toward the door to see Jenny looking at the place.

"Hey." greet the woman.

"I was expecting this place to be busy." said Jenny with a surprised tone. The brunette start walking away from Jenny and walk behind the counter.  
"It would be, but they are having a big grand reopening a block away." answers the brunette. Jenny approaches the counter. She looks at the brunette's name tag. It had in big letters that spells out Lou.

"Re opening?" ask Jenny.

"The Buy More that exploded a month ago." said Lou.

"Oh, that. I did not think that they would re open that store." said Jenny.

"They are and they are making it a big deal over there. They are having sales and a cook out."

"Wow. I should have made time to go over."

"Hey, I don't blame you. I send one of my guys over to get me a new plasma TV."

"Well, I don't watch too much TV."

"Well, if you are not going to buy anything. I do recommend the people watching. It is pretty good."

"I think I will. How about making my sandwich to go?"

"Sure."

"I take the sandwich called the Chuck."

"Good choice." Comment Lou as she starts making the sandwich.

* * *

He is sitting in a restaurant frustrated as hell.

It has been almost four years since he arrived in this century. Major Tom has done some pretty awful stuff in hopes in getting Jenny's attention. It has not happened. For the past four years, he did things that caught the attention of many law enforcement agencies. His face is on many wanted flyers/posters. He had killed many peoples. He had helped many organization achieved their goals with terror and technology. He did all of this in hopes that she comes and stop him.

It never had happened.

He takes another drink from the bottle. He had explored this planet from Tokyo to Antarctica. He had crawled in the deepest caves and the highest mountains. However, he had always come back to Burbank.

Major Tom had a sense that she is still here. He just has not figured out why.

It is why he is here again. Major Tom will do something to Burbank that he had done to the rest of the world.

He will set up a tragedy that the whole world will take notice. With any luck, she will notice and try to stop him.

Major Tom gets up from his chair and starts to walk out of the restaurant which is filled with dead people.

* * *

She walks up to the Buy More eating her sandwich. Jenny Carmichael watches as the kids stare at the hamburgers being made. The big guy making the hamburger is keeping a close eye on the burger. She sees that the big guy is wearing the Buy More uniform. She smiles at the fact that he did not look pleased at having an audience.

"Just because you are staring at it does not help it get cooked any quicker." remark the big man.

The kids ignore him as the saliva slowly builds up in their mouths. The big guy growls in frustration at the fact that the kids did not listen. She chuckles at the sight.

She walks past the grill, only to encounter a handsome male with flyers in his hand.

"Hey." said the man who looks like he worked out and is her age.

"Hello."

"We got a great sale inside." Jenny looks at the name tag that the man had on. It said Jake. She looks at him as he smiles his teeth at her. While he may have thought that he impresses her into a date, all it did was deter her.

"Ok." She brings her fake smile out and takes the flyer out of his hand. "I will check it out."

"Great. I'll check in with you to see if I can help you with anything." Jenny could feel the pit in her stomach growing as it remembers the last time that someone tried to pick her up.

She nod and walk away from the man. The shiver runs up her back. She could feel the man staring. With that thought in her mind, she practically runs into the building.

As the main sliding doors open up, she is greeted by merchandises. There is a display of cheese balls. She takes another bite from her sandwich as she walk past the Blu rays. She watches as the shoppers talk to the various sale people. She observe as the Nerd Herders answer the questions of the people with broken computers and cell phones.

While the she had no desire to buy anything, Jenny is enjoying the people watching.

* * *

All he sees is a group of people simply indulging their impulses.

Major Tom starts walking toward the grand opening of the Buy More. He only heard about this event on the radio of a car that he stole. As he drove around the city, the DJ on the radio started talking about the grand opening of the store that got blown up. This bit of news got his attention. As he parked, he watched the huge group of people going in and out of the store. He smiled at the bad thoughts that are running in his mind.

All he needed is here. All he has to do is simple walk in and walk out.

Major Tom's walk quicken at the thought of getting what he want. At least he hope that it gets Jenny's attention.

* * *

Sarah Walker stands up from her chair. She did not know how John Casey did it back in the day. When this assignment started, John Casey would sit and watch Chuck on the monitor while she pretended to be Chuck's girlfriend. How he did it with patience was anyone's guess. Now, Sarah is the watcher and John is in the field.

She had just watched one of her rookies tried to hit on several customers. She nearly flips when she watched as one of the rookies got tied up by the Buy More employees. She wanted to help but decided that if the rookie cannot get out of a simple restraint, that he deserves to be tied up for a while.

Sarah stretch as she continues to watch. The surveillance system in the castle is also in the face recognition mode. As this point in time, the system is trying to match up the customer with any thing in the database in terms of terrorists or known criminals.

She watches as the whole scenario of people buying things with some interest. Mostly she watches Chuck.

The beep from the computer interrupts her school girl behavior. She went from stalker girlfriend mode to an agent of the United State government. She turns to the monitor and her heart nearly skips.

The computer acquires a match. She read the information on the screen and her heart is racing.

"Oh, this is bad." She picks up the phone. Reinforcement is needed.

The screen had the picture of a terrorist codenamed Major Tom. It listed every confirmed criminal activity that he has committed. The list scared Sarah as she realizes what the man is capable of doing.

The fact that he just walked into the Buy More filled with people just changed things.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

She walks into the backroom with a lot of frustrations. She looks around and sees that no one is in the area. Tiffany could feel her frustration building and she needs a release. She approaches an empty television cardboard box. She starts hitting the box repeatedly. Within seconds, the steady cardboard box is flattened.

"Are you alright?" said a voice.

"Who is there?" reply Tiffany as she looks around the area.

"It's me, Thomas." said the voice.

"Where are you?" ask Tiffany, wondering what happened to the former con man now turned agent.

"In the cage." Tiffany starts walking toward the cage. What she finds is Thomas on the floor tied up and handcuffed. The frustration that Tiffany had is replaced with glee. Thomas is sitting on the concrete floor with a sad face. Her frown turn upside down and she let out the laughter out.

"Oh my God. What happened to you?" ask Tiffany.

"Well, I figured that since everyone has been so focus on the store opening that I figure it would be a good time to find out about Chuck and his secret."

"Really?" Tiffany hated to think this, but she did not give much thought about John Casey's assignment to the class. It is the main reason why she had not stalk Chuck unlike Amber.

"Yep. So I have been talking to his crew here at the Buy More. Anyway, I was talking to them back here. They were playing Harry Houdini. They were escaping out of handcuffs, ropes, and freezer. So, I made a bet." explains Thomas to his classmate.

"This is funny and it is just getting better."

"I bet that I can escape out of any situation and they give me info on Chuck." said Thomas with a little frown.

"Well, you screw up, didn't you?"

"Yep, they tie me up with rope, put handcuffs on me, put me in the cage and drugged me. I have been out for five hours." Nod Thomas to Tiffany.

"Wow, you do suck as an agent."

"I am just a little disappointed in myself. I got conned. You know these guys are not as incompetent as they look." defend Thomas.

"I am figuring that out."

"So, why are you trying to kill the box?" ask Thomas.

"I made a bet with Lester." answer Tiffany.

"The Jewish guy."

"Yeah. I snap; I lose. He pees his pants, he lose. The prize is free beer."

"Simple enough."

"It should be, but he has been sending me all the problem customers. You know that I have been yelled at ever since we opened the doors. I don't know how I have not yelled back." said Tiffany with a little frustration in her voice.

"Lester is smarter then he looks."

"Yeah."

"Why don't you do the same?"

"Haven't had time."

"Well, get me out of here and I will help you." Tiffany looks at Thomas.

"Deal." Tiffany starts looking for the keys to unlock the cage.

* * *

Jenny looks at her watch. She just finished eating her sandwich and is standing in front of the huge plasma television. She looks around and notices that the salesmen are busy. Each one of them is talking to a customer as they look at the product of their dreams. It is a good thing. It left Jenny time to watch a documentary about penguins.

Her watch tell her that she had time to finish before she had to walk back to the bus. Jenny placed her focus back on the television. The penguins were all diving in the cold water. For whatever reason, this scene gives her a small smile. As she watches the documentary, she did not notice the man approaching her. What shatters her concentration is the barrel of his gun that she is now feeling on her back.

"Hello, my princess." Jenny instantly reacted by moving toward confronting the mysterious voice.

"Don't move." She stops halfway. Jenny could see the man from the corner of her eye. "Where have you been?"

"Um. At home." Jenny did not understand this question from this strange man that had a gun against her back.

"Cute. I have the blaster pointed at you. So, pretend that you are watching the penguins."

Jenny slowly turns toward back to the television. She looks straight ahead as the man move beside her. He had the black leather jacket and red hair. He is skinny and pale. She had no idea who he is. She turns her head to see the man. He turns and looks at her. For a minute they look at each other. That creep feeling that Jenny received earlier is nothing to the feeling that she is feeling now. This feeling was different and frightening.

"I can't believe this. Of all the places that I was thinking about bombing, I did not expect you to be here. I walked into this pit of crap, thinking how this place would make a great explosion, and then I saw you. You finished up your sandwich looking at this crap. You have no idea how much this gives me joy to finally find you." The man called Major Tom said with little joy.

Major Tom waits for a response from Jenny. What he got is simply silence.

"You don't know me." He said with some disappointment.

Jenny did not bother hiding her reaction as she shook her head.

"Well, this is new. You really don't remember me." said the confused man. Jenny shook her head when he said this. "I suppose I may have just simply encountered a twin." He takes out a scanner using his left hand. She could see a faint outline of a gun in his pocket.

The mysterious man turns on his scanner and points it at her. After a few seconds, he looks at her.

"You clever girl."  
"What?" ask Jenny.

"This is different."

"Can you stop being so cryptic and start explaining why you think you know me?" Jenny know that outburst of courage is not going to last long.

"I do know you, but you don't know me." said the man with a smile.

"I don't understand."

"Think of it as a past life. We met during that time. Right now, you are in another life but with a catch: You don't remember anything from that past life. You don't know what you can do and what you have done." said the man. The smile sent a shiver.

"You do realize that your explanation sucks." said the frustrated Jenny.

"Fine. Here it is in simple terminology. I know you but you don't remember me." simply said the man.

"How do you know that I am not a twin?"

"Simple. You have residue."

"Residue of what?" ask Jenny, hoping that this man is not a crazy man.

"Being in the Time Vortex. You used to be a time traveler." Reply the man.  
"OK." Jenny did not bother hiding her fright from the craze man now.

"But you made it harder for me to find you. You changed yourself into someone else. Now you are all human. You have one heart." Major Tom smile and shook his head as if he was proud of her. Jenny let the crazy man have his assumption. "I never would have thought you would do something like that."

"Everyone has one heart."

"Except you. You are supposed to have two hearts."

"I don't understand." Major Tom let out a sigh as if he was disappointed with her lack of knowledge and her grasp of his explanation.

"All you need to know is that I have been looking for you for a very long time and I just found you."

"Are you going to kill me?" ask Jenny as she finally musters up the courage to ask the million dollar question.  
"Yes. The next question is: Are you going to make me kill everyone else in this building. Just so you know, I can and will if you make me."

Jenny's one heart starts to race as she stares into his cold eyes.

"Fine. Just not here." ask Jenny.

"That's fine." Agrees the man name Major Tom.

"Hey, guys. How are you doing?" Both Major Tom and Jenny turn to the voice. A tall man with a smile on his face is walking up to them. Major Tom looks up and down on the man. He is wearing the Buy More uniform. Unlike the rest, the uniform is neatly ironed.

"Act natural and he will be fine." whispers Major Tom to Jenny. Jenny nod and put on a fake smile. She looks at the approaching man's name tag. It reads Chuck.

* * *

Chuck looks at his watch. He had about four more hours of this chaos to handle and everything had been going smoothly. Everyone had been on their best behavior, even Lester and Jeff. Chuck had his suspicion. Chuck could see Tiffany and Thomas coming out of the backroom. The one thing that he notices is the fact that Tiffany is staring dagger at Lester, who is escorting an elderly out the door. Tiffany and Lester had been eying each other ever since the store opened. Since no one has gotten hurt, he decided to let them be.

"Hey, I'm Chuck, the store manager, welcome to the Buy More." said Chuck to the passing consumers.

He starts walking toward the Nerd Herder desk. Jeff and Amber are manning the station. Jeff is putting a box behind the counter as Amber is helping a customer. While Amber may have appeared to be a blond ditzy cheerleader, she fools everyone by knowing her way around electronics. Even now, she is talking to someone about the proper way in holding their cell phone.

Chuck takes a sigh of relief as he walk past the desk.

"Hey, Charles." said Amber. Chuck turns around and smiles. Amber fake smile turn warm and grow a little bigger as she wave to him. She place her focus back on the customer "That is our store manager. If you need any help with anything, talk to him. He's the greatest."

Chuck continues to walk away from the desk when the thought hit him.

"No way." He shook his head. The thought is too ludicrous to say out loud. If he did, he is pretty sure that Sarah would do something horrible to Amber.

* * *

Amber watches as Chuck walks away from the Nerd Herd desk.

"Dude. Don't even think about it." said Jeff.

"What?" said Amber as she snaps back into reality.

"Chuck. He's taken." said Jeff.

"I wasn't thinking about that." said Amber.

"Yes, you were." said Jeff.

"No."

"Please. Do you think that you are the only girl that walk into this place and not look at Chuck that way?"

"Yes." Amber did not know why that came out of her mouth.  
"No, you are not." Jeff looks at Amber. "I hate to say this, but you will be like the rest."

"The rest?" Amber did not think that there would be other girls that had eyes on Chuck.

"Yeah. Every girl that fell in love with him tried to get Chuck and failed. They cannot compete with his girl. Chuck is in love with his girl."

"Chuck has a girl?" Amber could feel her heart sinking… "Wait a minute. How much do you know about Chuck?"

"A lot. Why?" Jeff looks Amber with a puzzle look.

"What do you know about him?" ask Amber realizing what an opportunity she had in front of her.

"Depends. How much is it worth to you?" Jeff smile. He knew what is happening.

"I pay in beer." reply Amber, knowing what her co worker's weakness is.

"Done. After work, meet me by my van. I show you what I have."

"Cool." Amber smile. She just got her lead on Chuck.

* * *

Chuck continues his small patrol over the store. He made John Casey to the cooking over the hot dogs. If he didn't, Chuck is pretty sure that John would hurt some poor shop lifter. At least, Chuck can be a deterrent if he does the patrol.

It happens so quickly that he almost did not notice. A streak of blond hair passes him by and heads toward the televisions area that is playing a documentary about penguins. With so many blonds in the store, Chuck develops an immunity over the power of the hair color. It also helps to have a girlfriend that had blond hair.

Nevertheless, he did not look at the woman. He finally looks if to make sure that she did not put anything in her pockets. When he did, his heart nearly stops.

"No way." He stops walking and stare at the woman. She dresses like a teacher. She still had her hair in a ponytail. With a sandwich in her hands, it almost became a mirror image of the last time they were together.

"Jenny." He had to say the word to confirm what he is seeing. Chuck look up to the ceiling as if he is looking toward the sky. "Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you."

This problem of looking for someone who did not want to be found was something that Chuck knew would be hard. The more he thought about it, it did seem unlikely that he would find her. Still, he would have tried.

Now, here she is; in the store eating a sandwich.

_Every memory, every thought and my essence will be in this watch. Here I will be and here I will think. The drawback is the fact that I will become human. I can get hurt and killed. I will grow old and I will hunger and thirst. I will do everything that a human will do. I will also have no memory of who I am. _Said a little voice in Chuck's head. The voice was Jenny's.

"Oh boy." said Chuck as the memory of the video came back to him. No memory of what she is may complicate things. He watches as Jenny continue to eat her sandwich. She would take a look at the television and a small smile appears as the penguins walk toward the sea.

Chuck watches as the man with a leather jacket approach her. Chuck walk closer toward them with some curiosity. He had a sword strapped on his back which Chuck found odd. He walks with purpose and swagger toward Jenny. As he approaches her, the man passes by a mirror. Chuck got a look at the face. Chuck stops walking when he felt it coming.

"Oh no. Not now." Said Chuck as he prepare for the info to flash in his head.  
_An image of an explosion._

_ The image of a man standing in front of a camera giving it his middle finger._

_ A file on the man codenamed Major Tom._

_ A bumblebee._

"Not cool." Chuck turns around and head toward the Nerd Herd desk. He did not want to think about it. In fact, Chuck realizes something. His heart is not racing. He was doing all of this in a calm fashion.

"I have been doing this too long." Said Chuck to no one in particular.

Jeff and Lester and Amber start to stretch as Chuck approach the desk. The customers that they helped were done. Chuck knew that he had only one play and he really did not want to do it. Still, it had to be done.

"Charles!" said Amber with a lot of glee.

"Dude, you were just here." said Jeff.

"Yeah. Stop micro managing. Big Mike never did that." Chime in Lester.

"We have a problem." said Chuck.  
"What's the problem?" said Amber with interest.

"How big?" said Lester.

"Pineapple big."

"Oh crap. Not again." Said Lester in frustration.

"Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod!" said Jeff as he slump over trying to catch his breath.

"What's the big deal over a pineapple?" ask Amber.  
"Amber, pineapple is what we used when something bad is happening." explain Lester.

"Both times that it has been used, the store had a gas leak." elaborate Jeff.

"Oh." said Amber with concern.  
"Get everyone out in a calm fashion. Amber, make sure that those two do it in a calm fashion and quietly." Command Chuck.

"Ok." Answer Amber as she slip into agent mode.

"Tell Casey that there is a pineapple situation in the store." continue Chuck.

"Ok."

"Lester and Jeff." said Chuck as he places his focus on the duo. They look like they were going to hyper ventilate. "Stop that and get everyone out."

"Ok." All three of them start walk out of the desk and head toward the customers. Chuck takes a deep breath. This part he had to handle. He put on his silly smile and walks toward Jenny and the man called Major Tom.

He finally finds out who Major Tom is and it was not pretty. While he expected an alien or a seven foot tall android, Chuck did not expect to find Major Tom having a rep sheet with seven different law enforcement agencies. This man is dangerous and he did not know what to expect. It's time to be a spy again.

Chuck takes the time to assess the situation. He could tell that there is huge tension around the two individuals. More likely, he was telling her what he was going to kill her. The fact that she did not scream meant that something else had to be going on. It may be a good thing that he did get everyone out.

"Hey, guys. How are you doing?" said Chuck to grab their attention. Both of them turn toward Chuck. The moment that he saw her face, he starts praying.

"We are fine." respond the man called Major Tom.

"Well, welcome to the Buy More. I am Chuck. I see that you are paying really close attention to that television." He points at the television as it plays the penguins leaping into the water.

"Not really." reply Major Tom.

"NO! We are just looking." Add Jenny with fear in her voice. Chuck look at Jenny hoping for some sign that she recognize him. She stares at him with only some fear. Chuck maintains the fake smile.

"Trust me. It is not a shame to look at that baby. She may not be one of a kind, but she does the job." Chuck walk up to the television and pat it. "My sister got one as a wedding present. Loves it. The picture is so crystal clear that it is almost like you are there."

"We are not interested." said Major Tom as he places a huge hint on wanting Chuck to leave.

"I understand your hesitation. It is a major league purchase that most people wonder if it is worth it. Trust me, it is. Let me tell you everything about it." Chuck watch as the employees slowly and quietly escort the customers out. Chuck takes a big breath and start explaining about the television.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Just because you are staring at it does not help it get cooked any quicker." said John Casey at the kids that are drooling over the hamburgers that he was cooking on the grill. There are five kids staring at his hamburgers on the grill. John could see their eyes are as big as silver dollars. John sighs in frustration. As he places his focus back on the hamburgers, he could hear some woman chuckling.

The grand opening was something that John Casey had not been looking forward to. Chuck and Morgan knew this. Chuck picked the less stressful thing that they could find for John: Cooking out in front of the Buy More building for the customers. Ever since 11:00 am, John has been cooking outside on the grill. While he did not have to deal with scheming customers, he did have to deal with people wanting free food.

"I knew that I should have picked that mission in Beijing." mumbles John Casey to no one in particular.

"Wow!" said a voice that has become very familiar to John Casey. He turns to see his daughter standing behind the drooling kids. She is wearing a red blouse and black pants and an approving smile.

"What?" ask John Casey.

"You look like you belong behind a grill." said Alex with a little smile on her face.

Alex McHugh is his daughter that John Casey never knew that he had. Unfortunately his enemies knew this about him and tried to use her against him. As the result of this event, he had to save Alex and revealed to her that he was her father. As a result, they are having a developing relationship that both individuals agree to take their time in.

"Thanks." reply John Casey as he flips the burgers.

"I don't think I ever picture you behind a grill, John." said Alex. Since coming back into her life, John Casey did not want to force anything onto her. After all, he had not been part of her life during her formative years, it would be wrong for him to expect her to call him dad or accept him as a father figure. So, he is taking his time with his daughter.

"I am a man of many talents." said John with a calm voice as he looks back at the kids that are still drooling over the food on the grill.

"I can see that."

"So what are you doing here?" ask John.

"I figure that I should support you in the Grand re opening of the Buy More." said Alex.

"Thanks." John takes the hamburgers off the grill and placed them on buns that are set off on the side on plates. He hand the plates to the kids as their eye widen. "Now get out of here."

The kids grab the plates and run off.

"You are such a people person." comments Alex

"Hazard of the job." reply John.

"Tell me about it. After work, all I want to do is simply crash in my room and enjoy the silence."

"Don't your mom worry about such behavior?" ask John.  
"She understands." Alex pauses for a moment. "You should see her."

"We have already talked about it. It wouldn't be a good idea."

"Why not?" ask Alex.

"Your mom thinks that I am dead. If I show up to her house, trust me she will hate me forever. I don't want that." John looks away from his daughter and put more hamburgers on the grill.

Alex saw it for a brief moment. It was almost like lightening. It was there for a moment and it disappeared.

"I don't hate you." comfort Alex to her father.

"That is because you barely know who I am. I am only doing this because you are letting me to. The moment you say stop, I will." said John.

"Well, that is not going to happen. You are now stuck with me. Deal with it." Alex said it with a smile. John turns to see that smile. "If I don't hate you, then Mom wouldn't."

"Alex, I have seen this happened before. It never ends well." said John.

"Oh."

"Yeah." John did not like disappointing her. He could see that he was doing just that. "Want a hamburger?"

"Sure." Answer Alex. John takes the hamburger off the grill and places them on a plate. He takes a plate and place hamburger buns on it. He takes one of the hamburgers and places it on top of the buns. He hand the plate to Alex, who kindly took it from him.

"Casey!" Both Alex and John look up and see Morgan approaching them. "Dude, your hamburgers are rocking this place. No one wants to go inside."

"They like what they are eating." states John Casey. Alex takes a bite out of her hamburger.

"Obviously. I think we are just getting more people for the free food then the sale."

"What did you expect?" ask John to the hairy man.

"I don't know." Morgan notices Alex, whose smile grew only slightly bigger. "Oh. Hey, Alex."

"Hey, Morgan. How is the grand reopening?" Morgan smile did the same thing. John Casey looks at both of them hoping that he is not seeing this.

"I think we are hitting the numbers. It is a good day. Let's hope that it stay like this." said Morgan as he kept his eyes on Alex.

"Well, I got to get going. I came by to tell you that I have to cancel dinner."  
"I did not know we had dinner." said Morgan to Alex.

"She was talking to me." said John to the idiot that he wants to choke. "How come?"

"Well, classes are starting back up. Mom wants to have a small weekend trip before they do."

"That's fine." Alex saw it again from John's face. It was quick. If she was not paying attention for it this time, she would have missed it: It was sadness. "You have fun with your mother."

"I will." She smiles so that John assumed that she did not see it. "I'll call you when I get back. We will do something."

"Alright." Alex takes her hamburger and start walking away from John. He watches her with some sadness. He did not pay attention to Morgan as he look at his cell phone. John did not see Morgan's face as he freaks out on what he was reading on the screen.

"Casey." said Morgan.

"What?" ask an annoyed John Casey.  
"Code Black is a bad thing, isn't it?"

"Crap." John shakes out his sadness and went straight to professional mode. "That is a perimeter branch on the Buy More."

John turns off the gas grill and turn to looks at the entrance of the Buy More. He could feel his hair on the back of his neck rising as he watches as people slowly walking out of the Buy more. When he saw Jeff, Lester and Amber walking them out, he already knew that it was bad.

"That is a lot of people coming out of the Buy more." remarks Morgan.

"I don't see Chuck." observes John as he continues to scan the crowd.

"You don't think…"

"Morgan, when it comes to Chuck, there is very little thinking involved. Here is the plan. Keep everyone away from the store. When the fire department comes in, let them go in. That's our guys."

"Sure. What about the rookies?" ask Morgan.

"Have them do crowd control. If anybody gets stupid, they can take care of them. If anything happens you will have them as backup." answers John.

"What about you?" ask Morgan.

"I'm going in."

"Dude, I'm coming with you."

"No, you are not." answers John.

"How come?" asks Morgan.

"I hate to say this, but you are the authority figure here."

"What?"

"You are the assistant manger of the Buy more. The house wives will respect that and will believe you when you tell them that there is gas leak in the store. You also know the codes in the Castle. The rookies may need you if everything goes straight to hell." explains John to Morgan.

"Fine." said Morgan, not liking the situation.  
"Besides, I know where all the weapons are in the store."

"Wait." interrupts Morgan. "There are weapons in the store?"  
"Who do you think remodeled the store?" said John as he runs away from Morgan.

"Oh my god, the CIA remodeled our store." said Morgan underneath his breath as he watches as John Casey run into the crowd and into the store.

* * *

The locker slides open to let Sarah Walker step out. Sarah figured that the secret entrance to the Buy More would be the best course of action. She presses her watch button and put the watch up to her mouth.

"Casey."

"Walker, make it quick."

"Identification program has been confirmed that the terrorist called Major Tom is in the Buy More. It looks like Chuck flashed and had the Nerd Herders let everyone out. Last thing I saw on the video monitor was Chuck trying to distract Major Tom about television. We may have a possible hostage situation."

"I see them. What about the girl that is with them?"  
"Hostage." answers Sarah.

"Your location." ask John Casey.

"I'm in the break room. What's your location?"

"I am in the store heading toward them now. Looks like Chuck is playing the salesman."

"Probably stalling until back up gets here." said Sarah.

"Time?"

"Three minutes."

"Well, until then, we are the back up." said John.

"I am on my way." said Sarah as she exits out of the break room.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" ask Chuck. He just went over the whole entertainment package with them. He was still a little surprised that the man called Major Tom did not shoot him yet. In fact, he simply let Chuck go through the sell presentation. Chuck just hopes that Major Tom does not remember that he has that option.

"Well, all well and good, but there is this little problem." state Major Tom as he look straight at Chuck.

"What's that?"

"While you were doing your sales pitch, you evacuated this whole building." said Major Tom

"What?" Chuck put on his shock look.

"Are you going to try and insult me? I can see that you clear this whole place out." Major Tom extends his hand to point out the empty sales floor. Chuck turn to see that the building is clear. His heart slows down a beat.  
"Did I?"  
"You know who I am." states Major Tom as he step in front of Jenny, who seems to been holding her breath.

Chuck look at the man. Major Tom had a smile on his face. Chuck did not know what to make of this man. He had to be crazy. So, Chuck did the only thing he could. He smiles.

"I really doubt that." continue Chuck.

"Please. You know who I am just like I know who you are."

"Who am I?" ask Chuck.

"A nerd who watched too many America Most Wanted episodes. You want to play the knight that save the damsel in distress. You saw me and you saw the girl. You saw your chance to be bigger then who you really are. That is who you are. Some lonely boy who wants to play superhero." Major Tom's smile turns into a wicked grin that Chuck seen before.

"Guess you figured me out. The only thing is you haven't answered is the big question: why you want the girl." ask Chuck, faking his ignorance of how important Jenny is.

"That is not of your business."

"Ok. If you don't want to answer that question, can you answer this one? How can you carry a sword and not get notice?" Chuck kept his eyes on Major Tom as he unsheathes his sword.

It is a big Katana blade. If Chuck did not know any better, he could have swore that the sword sung when Major Tom took it out.

"I have no idea. I have been carrying this thing for years and no one has ever asked me that?" answers Major Tom with a little confusion.

"Seriously, I figured you would have been stopped by someone."

"One would think. One would also think that a man would run away if he saw this sword out." Major Tom stares at Chuck with very evil intentions.

"I really should run, but I don't think it would do anyone any good."

"What makes you say that?"

"Something tells me I wouldn't get far."

"That is true."

"Of course, if I wait longer enough, help will come." said Chuck. With those words, Casey and Sarah walk in with their gun pointed at Major Tom.  
"PUT YOUR HAND UP IN THE AIR!" commanded John Casey.

"CIA! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Yell out Sarah.

"Well this is unexpected." Major Tom look at Chuck, Sarah and then at John Casey. "Are they any good?"

"I trust them with my life." Answer Chuck.

"Can they trust you with theirs?" said Major Tom as he looks directly at Chuck. "Just so you know that I am fast enough to slice your throat, chop off Jenny's head, run over to the big guy and kill him. That blonde will be dead at the door as she runs away for her life. I will simply walk away from this building and get myself a sandwich and a drink and not feel any remorse or get caught. Now, I will ask you again: Can they trust their lives in your hands?"

Chuck takes a big breath and closes his eyes. He could feel the surge coming over him as his mind flashes. It downloads in his mind and body what it needs in this situation. Chuck opens his eyes and look at terrorist that just threaten his friends.

"Yes, they can." said Chuck with confidence that only came with experience.

"Well." said Major Tom. "Since you seem so confident, let's see how quickly you can die."

Major Tom runs toward Chuck with a swift motion that Sarah did not see him move. Jenny's eyes widen as she saw the quickness that Major Tom had. John wants to shoot but did not see a clear shot. All three individuals place their hopes on Chuck.

Chuck answers their hopes with a flying cartwheel over Major Tom, as he tried to end the situation with lunges with his sword. Chuck land on his feet with his back toward Major Tom. Chuck quickly looks for something to defend himself. The only thing he sees is Jenny standing in front of him.

"Run." said Chuck. Jenny stares at Chuck and turn to run. Chuck turn to face Major Tom. He had already turned around to slash Chuck in the middle. Not wanting to get split in half vertically, Chuck grabbed the wrist that is holding the sword. Chuck look at the blade of the sword to see that it is only inches from his head. Sweat start to come down his head as the realization that he could die in a very painful way.

Good thing he had a team.

Sarah runs toward Jenny to get her out of the away.

John Casey took him a second to find his shot and take it.

Major Tom felt the bullets as John fired. He fell back on the ground. He let the sword out of his hands. He collapsed on the floor.

John and Sarah slowly approach the area with caution. Jenny simply walks back a little as the agents approach the body.

"Are you alright?" ask Sarah.

"Yeah. Nearly got slice in half like Darth Maul, but I think I am alright." said Chuck as he stands from a distance from Major Tom.

"Chuck." said John.

"Yeah."

"Does your watch work?"

"Yeah."

"Next time you see a crazed terrorist walking into the building, hit the button." chastise Casey. Chuck look at his watch. It is still the same watch that Sarah gave him when she started to protect him. The watch had an emergency signal button in case something happens.

"Sorry. It has been a while since I had to use it."  
"Well, don't forgot, Chuck. Don't make me have to remind you how to use it." said John as both agents stand beside Chuck. They look at the terrorist called Major Tom.  
"Wow, so this man was the big bad Major Tom." said Chuck as he thought about the warning from the Time Lord name Jenny.

"Wanted in almost all five continents, even Antarctica." mentions John Casey.

"You're kidding."  
"Nope. Killed someone there."

"How come we never caught him?" ask Chuck.

"Don't know. This is the closest anyone got to him." answers Sarah.

They both look at the body. Chuck realizes something. It was a small detail, but it is an important detail.

"He's not bleeding." said Chuck.

"What?" said both agents as they look down at the body. Without thinking, they pointed their weapons at the body.

The supposedly dead body opens his eyes. He smile with a grin that sent chills up their spine

"Well, I might have been wrong about you, Chuck." said Major Tom.

"You make a move and I will put three bullets in that skull of yours." said Casey with a tone that shows his resolve.

"At this range, whatever protection I have wouldn't work." said Major Tom to no one in particular.  
"I know. Again. Don't move." said Casey with a small smile.

"So, who are you?" Major Tom looks at Casey and Sarah. "You can't be the local law enforcement. You have quality hardware. You have skills that most normal people don't have." Major Tom then looks at Chuck with cold eyes.

"It's yoga. My girlfriend demands that I take yoga." lies Chuck.

"You. Are. Lying." said Major Tom. "I wouldn't make that mistake again, Chuck. Next time we meet, you better be ready."

Major Tom moves his right hand and taps his watch. Instantly, he disappeared.

Both Sarah and John Casey simply stare at the area, trying to process the situation.

"Did he just teleported?" ask Chuck with a shock look on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"…gas leak interrupted the grand re opening of the Buy More in Burbank. However, a representative at the Buy More stated at all the sale deals will last until the end of the week. Look like I have time to get that big plasma TV, Rachel." said the newscaster with the phony hair and phony smile as he turn to look at his female co anchor.

"That you do, Ron." said the female newscaster with the fake blond hair.

The CIA recruits are watching the evening new with interest. After all, the "gas leak" at the Buy More happened on their watch. They are sitting on the big conference table in the Castle. Each recruit look tired. However, one recruit look very angry as she watch the news.  
John Casey, who has been sitting at the head of the table, turn off the monitor. He stands up from his seat and look at the table. He notices that Tiffany look very perturbed. Sarah, who had been sitting behind the recruits, made her way to the front and walk up beside John.

"Official story to the public is that: Gas Leak. Unofficial story is this: A major terrorist came into the store for the sole purpose of kidnapping this woman." John points at the monitor with a clicker. The computer pulls up the file of Jenny Carmichael. Her driver license appears on the screen showing her height, age and the fact that she was an organ donor.

"Jennifer Carmichael. Teacher. She has been living here in the Burbank area for about three years. According to her and the principal of the school that she teaches at, she was supposed to be on a field trip with her students to the observatory. She only stopped in our neck of the woods for lunch with her students. As for the connection with this terrorist, that is unknown." John point the clicker and the monitor remove Jenny's file and show Major Tom's file. Sarah steps up from behind John Casey to continue the debriefing.

"Major Tom is a wanted terrorist. He is the man that all governments and people fear: A terrorist who enjoy his work. He has been linked to bombing in London, Paris, Afghanistan, South Korea, numerous South American countries and Canada. He has also been linked to assassinations on various countries. Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the main reasons why we exist." said Sarah to the rookies. Both agents look at the rookies as one raise his hand.

"Mr. Monroe." acknowledge Sarah to the recruit.

"Why was he here? This is Burbank. Nothing happen here." ask Thomas Monroe. Casey looks at his partner who nods.

"That is your assignment. You have to find out why he was here and why he wants this woman." said Sarah.

"Excuse me?" reply Thomas Monroe.

"Your assignment is to find out why that man came to Burbank. How long has he been here? Why he is so intent in getting that teacher? Congratulations recruits. You have your first official assignment." said Sarah.

"Don't we have analysts that does that sort of thing?" mention Jake Harding.

"Where do you think analysts get their information?" ask John. When John Casey saw only a confused look from the recruits, he figures that he had to explain himself. "They get them from snitches, local law enforcement, and from agents on the field. Guess what? All of you are agents. You get to do the grunt work today. We need to know why Major Tom is here, where he went and why he wants this teacher."

All the recruits look at each other in disbelief.

"Do I make myself clear?" state John Casey in her military voice.

"Yes, sir." said all the recruits. Another hand went in the air. Both agents look at the hand to see that it belong to the quiet Jesse Smith.

"Yes, Agent Smith." acknowledges Sarah.

"Two questions: How did Major Tom get away?" asks Jesse. John points his clicker to the monitor. The monitor replaces the files of Major Tom and Jenny with surveillance video of the Buy More of Chuck standing in front of Major Tom who was holding Jenny. The video starts to play as John approached the trio. It replays the whole scene. Every recruit gasp in disbelief when they watch Major Tom disappeared.

"Official, I don't know. Unofficial, we think he teleported out of the store." said John with a lot of hesitation.

"I'm sorry, sir. Did you just say that he just teleported out of the store like Star Trek?" ask Tiffany.

"We have no other explanation. Don't look at the semantics at how he got away. Focus on the fact that he is still out there." said John Casey. He looks at the recruits who simply are accepting this fact and not dwelling on how Major Tom got away.

"Ok." said Jess as she resumes her line of questions. "Second question now that I finally saw the surveillance tape: Is Chuck a spy?" All recruits looks at Jesse with disbelief.

"Chuck Bartowski, your manager at the Buy More?" clarifies John Casey.

"Yes, sir." reply Jesse with a quiet tone that only a mouse could hear.

"Yes, he was." respond John with a little pride. Jesse let a smile come across her face.  
Every recruit did not bother hiding their disbelief.

"Congratulation, you found out Chuck's dark secret. How did you figure it out?" ask Sarah.

"He's John Casey's and Morgan's friend and Agent Walker's boyfriend. Most friends that a spy has are usually family or other spies. Birds of the same feather. It would make sense that he would be a spy. Now that I have seen the tape and see how he moved and reacted to the situation, it would be stupid to think otherwise." explain Jesse with a little pride.

"Wait a minute. Agent Walker's boyfriend is Chuck?" blurted out Amber with a little anger and disbelief.

"Yes, Agent Long, he is MY boyfriend." said Sarah with a little bit of force. Amber sinks a little in her chair as she let the embarrassment wash over her.

"Good job, Agent Smith." said John with a little pride. "Let's hope everyone learns from your example. Get some rest. Morgan will adjust your work schedule. Make sure that you are at your post tomorrow."

"Wait a minute! We still have to work at the Buy More." said Jake Harding.

"Yes, Mr. Harding. This is after all, Covert Living. You still have to maintain your cover and do your actual job. It would defeat the purpose of this class if you didn't. The debriefing is complete. Everyone gets out of my sight." commands John with a lot of irritation over the recruit's stupid question.

The recruits slowly get up from their chairs and walk out. Some of them congratulate Jesse on her guess while others simply walk out of the door.

John Casey and Sarah watch as they walk out of the Castle.

"So, what do you think about our recruits now?" ask John to his partner once the room is empty of their students.

"I really want to hit them." said a frustrated Sarah Walker.

"Besides, that."  
"A lot of potential. It is just turning that potential into something that is annoying. I don't remember being that stupid." said Sarah as she sits down on one of the chairs.

"We were all that stupid at one point in time."

"Well, at least they don't have to answer to General Beckman."

"Don't remind me. Did you file the report?" ask John Casey as he look at the monitor.

"Yep. We should be expecting a call from the General any minute now."

"Well, I'll be here with you." reassure John as he takes a seat. "Teleportation. I can't believe I just used that word to explain how a major terrorist escaped."

"What other explanation do we have? We had him."

"Where is Chuck?" ask John not wanting to answer Sarah's question.

"He is with the victim. He said that he wanted to question her."

"Really? You're going to let him?"

"Beside you, I don't trust anyone more than Chuck." State Sarah.

Both agents heard a beep from the monitor. They get up from the chair and stand up straight.

"OK. Are you ready for this?" ask John to his partner.

"Have I ever been ready for this?" answer Sarah.  
"No, but we never had a choice in the matter." said John. Within a second, General Beckman appears on the screen.

"Agent Walker and Agent Casey."

"General." said the two agents in unison.

"I found the report that you filed very disturbing." state General Beckman.

"Everything is in the report and it is true, General." answer Sarah.

"That is what I find troublesome." said the General. "Am I supposed to believe that we let a known terrorist get away?"

"There was no letting, General." answer John.

"I suppose you are right. I did see the surveillance footage." The General sighs. "The fact that Major Tom has technology that surpasses anything that we may have is very frightening."

"You don't seem so surprised by this." ask Sarah, who was expecting a bigger response.

"The simple fact of the matter is that the Intersect project is not the only project that the government has running."

"What?" ask John Casey and Sarah Walker.

"Did you really think that the Intersect project is unique?"

"I never really thought about it." answer Sarah.

"Trust me. I have seen things that would make you stay up at night. The reality of the matter is this; we have a lot of projects that never made the grade. The Intersect Project has been the few projects that have produced results." The General put her guard back up. "However, this does not change the fact that Major Tom has something that surpasses any of our projects. It also illustrates how he has been able to get away from the local authorities for so long. We now know the problem."

"What's our mission, General?" ask John.

"Find Major Tom. In the meantime, I will have to go searching for the answers in restraining him." reply the General.

"How?" ask Sarah.  
"You don't get into my position without knowing the right people. Leave that to me." said the General.

"Yes, General." said both agents.

"Before I go, how is Chuck?" ask General Beckman.

"Just like you said. He is a magnet for trouble." answer John.

"Figured as much. Let him be for now." Reply the General.

"Ma'am."

"Chuck is too clever for his own good. It also means that he might be helpful. Let him help in this one." said the General.

"Wasn't thinking of any other way." reply Sarah with a little smile.

"Good. I will contact you if I get something. Remember: Locate Major Tom. Do not engage with the target."

"Yes, General." The monitor goes black as both agents sigh in relief as the General sign off.

"That went well." said Sarah.

"If you exclude the fact that we have to find a major terrorist." answer John.

"You always look at the dark side of things."  
"Someone has to." said John as he sat down to catch his breath.

* * *

Chuck look at her with curiosity as she sits in the room. The room is the typical interrogation room. It only had a metal table and metal chair. There is a light fixture in the middle of the small room. Of course there is the required two way mirror.

Chuck could not help but think that she look completely different from the first time he saw her. Jenny was wearing her army get up carrying a bizarre scanner, thinking that he was some sort of converter. She had that smile that outshines any thing that he had seen. Now, he sees a conservative teacher who is scare out of her mind.

Chuck had been looking at her for the past twenty minutes wondering what he is going to say to her. After all, she had no idea what is going on. He barely knew enough to know what was going on. Still, he knew better than leaving a girl alone in the room. Chuck finally take a deep breath, grab the two soda cans and walk into the room.

She looks at him when she hears the door open. She greets Chuck with a small smile.

"Hi." said Chuck, who is hoping that his smile would ease her anxiety.

"Hello." reply Jenny.

"I did not know what you drink. So I brought in diet coke and regular coke." Chuck places the two cans on the table.

"Regular coke." Reply Jenny as she takes the coke, open it up and start chugging the coke. He watches the sight that only reminded him of his days in the fraternity. Chuck sits down opposite to Jenny.

"Thirsty?" remark Chuck.

"Yeah." said Jenny as she put the can of soda on the table.

"Sorry about that." Chuck look at Jenny, who seems a little clueless. "So, how are you doing?"  
"I am slightly edgy."

"Can't blame you."

"Well, nearly getting kidnapped and murdered does that to a girl." Jenny did put a little sarcasm in the tone, although she did not mean too.

"Yeah. Never get used to that." said Chuck as his brain reminded him the feeling.

"So, you have been kidnapped and was about to be murdered."

"Add a little torture into the mix and yes, I do know." She did not bother hiding her fears from the man called Chuck.

He realized what he was doing when her face went slightly pale.

"I used to work for the government."

"Really? IRS auditor?" joke Jenny, which cause Chuck to smile.  
"No, but pretty close. Let's just say that I had to deal with some pretty bad individuals."

"Sorry."

"Thank you, but it was part of the job." Chuck looks at her and could see no trace of recognition from her. He was a stranger to her. "Let's talk about you."

"There is nothing for me to say. I have no idea what is going on."

"Well, let's just stick with the beginning."

"OK.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Jennifer Carmichael." The last name made Chuck's heart skip a beat.  
"What do you do?" question Chuck.

"I am a teacher." answer Jenny. With that statement a realization hit her. "Oh my God! I forgot about my boys."

"They already took care of that. Your boys were send back to the school. We told them that a situation arose and that we needed your help. The principal fully understand the situation. "

"Is he going to hurt them?" ask Jenny.

"He?"

"The man that tried to kidnap me?" Clarify Jenny to Chuck.

"No. Let's just say that precautions have been taken to make sure that you are not connected with the kids. They will be safe." Reassure Chuck. He did not tell her that her record was being erased from the school's database.

"Good." Jenny sighs in relief.

"Let's get back to you."

"OK."

"Other then today, have you seen this man before?" ask Chuck.

"No."  
"Have you seen him in your daily life?"  
"No."

"Maybe at school. Could he be one of your kid's parents?" clarify Chuck.  
"No."

"You want to think about that a little longer?"

"No. I have very good memory." answer Jenny.

"It can't be that good."  
"When I came into the Buy More, you were walking around the store, introducing yourself. You also have that look on your face that you were worry about something. I figured that it was because of the guys at the Nerd Herder desk or the girl that was staring at one of the guys." said Jenny as she proves her statement to Chuck.

"Wow."

"I also know that you have cheese puff on sale for a one dollar."

"Even after all of that chaos, you remember that?"

"Like I say, I have good memory."

"Points to you. OK. Is there anything in your past that people want to talk to you about?"

"Said that again."  
"Let's rephrase that: have you done anything that people might want to talk to you about?" ask Chuck.

"Bad grades on homework?"  
"Like running with the wrong crowd?" Jenny closes her eyes and makes a weird face.  
"Not that I know of." Jenny finally said.

"You actually thought about that question."

"There is no question about that.

"OK." There is a knocking on the door. Chuck let out a sigh. Chuck gets up from his seat. "Look, you will be out of here within the hour."

"Am I going home?"

"Not my call. The person in charge will tell you what is going to happen next. For now, I think that you will be in protective custody until they figure this out."

"OK." Jenny gives Chuck the look. He recognizes that look. He had it many times. "If it makes you feel better, I trust these people. They will keep you safe."

Jenny smile to Chuck. He let himself smile back at her. Chuck walks to the door and open it. His girlfriend was waiting for him on the other side. Chuck closes the door.

"Did you get anything?" ask Sarah.

"Not really? She seems clueless like we are." answers Chuck.

"Not good."

"Nope." Chuck look at Sarah. "So, what is next?"

"Whether or not she knows it or not, she is important. Major Tom is not known for giving up. He wants her for some reason. We got to find out that reason or find Major Tom."

"That is our only options." said Chuck in disbelief.

"For now."

"What about her?"

"We get her into a safe house. There will be twenty four hours security." Answer Sarah.

"You are going to put the rookies in charge of that."

"Of course not."  
"OK."

"Why don't you go home and get some rest. Casey and I can handle this." said Sarah hoping that Chuck would let it go.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Chuck, trust me." Remind Sarah to her boyfriend.

"What about you?"

"You will know when I get home." said Sarah with a smile.

"I'm not going to get any sleep, am I?"

"Get or I will have Casey wake you up when I get there." threatens Sarah to her boyfriend.

"I am going." said Chuck.

Chuck gives his girlfriend a kiss and starts to walk away from her. Chuck realizes a simple fact: He had to find the watch and find it now.

* * *

She looks at her watch. It has been five hours since she sign off from her agents. General Beckman sighs in frustration as she waits in her limo. She is still wearing her uniform since this morning. At this hour, she should be in bed wondering what is going to happen next. It had been a long day of dealing with fires that shall remain nameless. Still, she had to find out the information for her agents. The near capture of a major terrorist is something that cannot be ignored. With Team Bartowski, results are only a matter of time.

While she had been skeptical with having Chuck part of this world, he won her over with the results that he produced. In the past, she really preferred having him in a bunker. Now, she was glad that never happened. She doubts that she would have gotten the results if he was in a bunker.

As the car door open up, General Beckman place her right hand on her fire arm. When she saw the gray haired military man sit beside her, she sigh a little relief.

"General Beckman." Said the man

"General Franklin."

"Why in the world did you call me at this ungodly hour? I have better things to do then this spy crap." said the annoyed General.

"I would not have called you if it was not urgent. I had to call in several favors in order to get your opinion on this particular matter."

"Make it quick. I will give you sixty seconds."

"Play it Matthew." Command General Beckman. A panel lowers on the big seat to reveal a television. It starts to play the surveillance video from the Buy More. The man watches the whole thing to the end.

"Well, that should not have happen." remark General Franklin as he watch the end of the tape.

"You see my problem. I have no idea what just happen. My agents saw this happen with their own eyes. As for their trustworthiness, don't ask. I trust these agents when they tell me that this man disappeared right in front of them." said General Beckman.

"What do you think?"  
"If I know what to think, I would not be asking for your assessment."

"Point taken. When did this happen?" ask General Franklin

"About eight hours ago in Burbank."

"Give me a minute." The man takes out cell phone and dials a number. He waits for an answer. "It's me. I think we have a problem. I need a reading for the Burbank area about eight hour ago. I think California. Hold on.

"It's California." Confirm General Beckman.

"Thank. Did you catch that? What are you looking for? Alien energy signal of any kind. Make it a rush job. I think we might be under the clock for this. Thanks." General Franklin hung up his cell phone.

"What is going on?" ask General Beckman.

"Do you really want me to explain it?" ask General Franklin.

"Yes."

"Sorry. I can't at this moment. Once I get something, I will contact you. Why do you need this information?" ask the General.  
"That man that disappeared is a major terrorist." answer General Beckman.

"Jesus." said General Franklin in frustration. "Are you kidding me?"

"Look up the file listed under Major Tom. You should be able to get the profile." said General Beckman. General Franklin looks at her as if he is evaluating her honesty.

"Jesus." said General Franklin as he realizes that she is telling the truth. "I call you as soon as I can. Make sure you are by your phone." With that, the man left General Beckman more confused and frustrate then before.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

His name is Mickey Smith and he hates how much his gaming skills had deteriorated.

"C'mon you yellow pellet eating circle!" yell Mickey at the laptop. The laptop simply answers back by having one of the ghosts in the game eats his last pellet munching circle. Mickey simply shook his head.

"I cannot believe this. I am reduced to getting beat in Pac-man." sigh Mickey as he lean back in his chair.

Mickey Smith looks at his hotel room. It was a nice quaint room that had a nice window view of the beach. Unfortunately for Mickey Smith, the view is a raining scenario of a beach.

"I really do not know why you are playing that game." answer a female voice from the closed bathroom. Mickey could hear the shower being turn off.

"It takes my mind off of stuff."

"You have to be kidding."

"Believe or not, I was a good gamer."

"Mickey Smith, a gamer. I can't really see that." reply the female voice.

"Well, my life did not always revolve around the Doctor, Rose Tyler, and aliens. I had hobbies; I had buddies outside of all of that. I will say this: I was and still am fantastic." brags Mickey Smith to the female voice.  
"Sound like someone has a very high opinion of oneself."

"Not just an opinion. It is a fact." Mickey could hear his wife's cell phone start to ring.

"Be quiet, sweetie. My phone is ringing."

Mickey gets out of the program and log on the internet. If the phone is ringing, he had to be quiet. The only people that call his wife are important people.

Mickey Smith and Martha Jones are the husband and wife team that specialize in alien situation. The only reason that either of them specialize in that sort of thing is the Doctor. The time traveling Doctor came into Mickey's life when he rescued Rose Tyler. Mickey somehow became a part of the Doctor's entourage. What he found out was that being a part of the Doctor's entourage meant being chased by aliens, murderous robots, and crazed rabid monkeys. As for Martha Jones, she became Rose Tyler's replacement when she got trapped in an alternate universe. While the entourage no longer existed, Martha found herself in similar situations: Crazed murderous aliens, civilization threatened, and mutated llamas. Life happens and now both individuals no longer travel with the Doctor. Of course, it gave them a chance to meet each other. After a long courtship that consisted of each other save the other from impeding danger, they got married. Now, they are freelancers that specializes in the aliens, world threaten crisis and anything unusual.

It has been a month since their last assignment that dealt with some bizarre occurrences in India. After the ordeal, both agreed that a vacation was the best option specifically a beach.

As Mickey explores the internet, he head turn the antique watches websites. The last adventure destroyed his watch. So he starts looking a pocket watches. As he starts exploring, he found something that caught his eye.

As he stares at the picture, Mickey could hear his wife coming into the room.

"Looks like our vacation is up." said Martha as she tying up her white bath robe.

"Really." answers Mickey as he kept staring at the watch.

"The new head of UNIT just sent me a video of a known terrorist that just teleported out a situation."

"Really."

"According to their reading, however, it does not look like a teleportation."

"Really."

"He may have time travel out of the situation." continue Martha.

"Really."

"The general wants me to go and investigate the situation."

"Really." The final 'really' bother Martha. Mickey seems so focus on the laptop.

"He also said that Rose Tyler is in town and that I should marry her." said Martha, hoping that it may get Mickey's attention.

"Really."

"Yes, so I am divorcing you and running away with her."

"Well, Rose is a nice girl. If you are going to leave me for anyone, she would be it." answer Mickey with a smile.

"So, you were paying attention."

"Of course I was. Why wouldn't I?" said Mickey as he look away from the laptop screen and at his wife.

"You just gave out an impression that you wasn't."

"You forget who you are talking to. I am fantastic." Mickey said it flashing his million dollar smile.

"So, what got your attention?" ask Martha.  
"This pocket watch. I am looking"

"Are you going to finally replace the broken watch?"

"Well, yes. I found an interesting watch. But something about it seems….familiar." Martha likes Mickey. He is a gut based individual. He had that action hero quality that only comes out in combat. Any other time, he acts like a regular guy. So, if something catches his eye, it must mean something.

She looks at the watch. The moment she saw it, her heart start to race.

"I swear that I have seen it before. I just do not remember where?" said an unaware Mickey.

"Oh my god." said Martha as she step away from the laptop.  
"What?"  
"That is a Time Lord Watch." said Martha with a quiet certainty.

"Wait, what?" Mickey looks back at the picture. His own heart starts to race.

"It is a Time Lord Watch." repeats Martha.  
"Before I start to freak out a bit, explain."

"It is a watch that Time Lord has. In case of extreme emergencies, they can transfer their essence into that watch." explain Martha.

"I do not like the sound of that."

"Nor I. You know that there are only two watches in existence." explain Martha to her husband.

"Yes, You have mentioned this before: The Master's and The Doctor's, but we can eliminate the Master since he is dead." said Mickey. His wife told him the story about the Master and the Doctor when they had a brief peaceful time alone.

"So, that leaves the Doctor." Assume Martha.

"This can't be good." Martha look over Mickey's shoulder and continue to read the screen.

"According to this, someone is looking for it." said Martha.

"And it looks like someone responded to the inquiry." Both individuals look at the responds.

"Looks like there was one watch exactly like that back home." said Martha.

"Great. Not making me feels any better." said Mickey.

"Well, I am not going to make you feel any better. Move over, let me show you what the General just showed me." Martha went and opens up her e-mail. She clicks on the icon to play the video. A man is holding a woman hostage as a guy look like he is selling a television set to him. Mickey watches as two agents coming into the frame holding their guns. A fight erupts between the salesman and agents. Mickey watches it with little interest until the man disappeared from the video.

"Well, that can not be a good thing." state Mickey.  
"It is not. Wait until I show you this." Martha rewinds it back at the moment before the man disappear. She freezes the moment and then zooms in on the watch that the man taped on.

Mickey knew that his wife is trying to show himself. Mickey stares at the frozen scene.

"That watch looks familiar." said Mickey. Martha waits until it clicks. "Wait a minute…..that looks like…"

"Captain Jack's watch." answer Martha.

"You know what it really is?"

"Yeah. It was the way he was able to travel to time. He showed it to me once. So now there is a man who could be a Time Agent and a missing Time Lord's watch within the same period. I am not getting a good feeling about any of this." said Martha.  
"Tell me about it. The question is which one do we investigate first."

"Well, I think we should split up." said Martha.

"What?"

"Not like that. You pick one and I go to the other."

"Sorry about that." apologize Mickey  
"Don't worry about it."

"I do not like the plan." said Mickey.

"It is a good plan."

"No, it is not."

"Do you have a better idea?" ask Martha.

"We pick one and go together."

They both look at each other waiting for the other to flinch.

"Fine. I do not know why you talk to me into this sort of thing." concedes Mickey to his wife.

"According to the General, he is a terrorist." said Martha.

"I do not like this situation at all."

"I am not so thrilled about it either."

"Alright. Since the Time Agent involves hitting, I will take that one. You take the Watch since I have no idea how to deal with that." said Mickey.

"Knowing your luck, you probably accidently open it. Not a good thing in this situation." jokes Martha to her husband.

"Hey."

"I said accidently." clarify Martha.

"Fine. When is the next flight out here?"  
"Tomorrow morning."

"Good. I can get some playing time in." Martha gives her husband a dirty look as he close out the internet and clicks the game icon. He turns to his wife with a smile. "I am just joking. Give me some credit."

She smiles back. She proceeds to kiss her man on the lips.

* * *

Tiffany and Amber look at the small shot glasses filled with tequila in front of them. Both took their own shot glass and threw the liquid down their throat. Both agents slam the glass on the bar counter as they could hear someone butchering a David Bowe song.

Tiffany moves her head side by side, while Amber shook her head in a violet fashion to shake off the effects of her shot. There is a manila folder by Amber's left hand. Both recruits are still wearing their Buy More uniform.

Both recruits swing the chairs back to place their focus on the stage. It is karaoke night at Bennigans. The place is filled with plenty of American Idols wanna-be.

"I hate karaoke." said Tiffany.

"Right there with you." answers Amber.

Both recruits look around the bar to see the reason why they were at the bar: Lester and Jeff. Both men are near the stage making weird faces.

"I can't believe that I lost." said Tiffany as she stare at Lester as it look like he is stretching his face.

"I can't believe that you can handle enemy fire but you couldn't handle a little old woman." reply Amber.

"Hey! That little old woman was talking smack. I had to put her in her place."

"Seriously. What could she have said that was so bad?" ask Amber.  
"She was talking about the girls."

"The girls?" ask Amber. Tiffany uses her eye to point out what she meant. "Oh. Really?"

"Yep." confirm Tiffany.

"Wow. How bad was it?"  
"Let's just say that several people were very offended by the statement." The face that Tiffany made only confirms what Amber thought.

"So, that is why you ripped into her."  
"Yep. I went Full Metal Jacket on that old woman." Both recruits swing the chair back to the bar as the man finishes up his song. Amber motions at the bartender and point out their empty shot glasses.

"Sorry, I missed it." said Amber.

"I am sure that someone has it on their cell phones." Both recruits watch as the bartender pours another shot of tequila in their shot glasses. "So, what is the deal with the manila folder?"

"You saw that." said Amber.

"Yep." confirm Tiffany. "What's in it?"  
"Jeff and Lester's info about Chuck." answer Amber. Both recruit grab their shot glasses and take another drink. Both slam it on the table. "It turns out that Jeff and Lester has been stalking Chuck off and on for the past four years now."

"Amber. What is your deal with Chuck? I mean I don't understand why you want to know more about a guy that is already taken." Tiffany bluntly said to Amber.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN FOR US AT KAROKE NIGHT. I PRESENT TO YOU: JEFFSTER!"

The whole bar erupts in applause and cheer. Both women turn to see Jeff and Lester walking on stage. Lester grabs the microphone. Jeff is carrying a keyboard guitar.

"We got a real treat for you today. I know that we are very famous for our rendition of great eighties music. Today we feel that we decided to change it up a bit. We are going to sing to you something more modern." said Lester.

With that, a couple of notes start to play as Jeff play the keyboard as Lester start to sing.

_"I'm coming out of my cage._

_ "And I've been doing just fine._

_ "Gotta gotta be down_

_ "Because I want it all."_

Both women turns back to their shots as they see that the bartender had already filled it up.

"Do you know that I have four older brothers?" ask Amber.

"Holy crap. No I did not."

"Getting dates was very hard for me. Most guys in my school were afraid to ask me out. Since I was one of the most popular girls in the school, I was not only feared, I was always envied by every girl there."

"Jeez. Must have been nice."

"It sucked. Every 'girlfriend' that I had always stabbed me in the back in some way."

"Sorry."

"The guys were just as bad. They always want something from me. It got pretty bad. The break came in science class when I got partnered up with Jimmy during junior year."

"Ok. I'll bite. What's was Jimmy's angle?"  
"None. He is the classic nerd. Loved science and computers. Loved Star Wars and Tron. He was looked down upon by everyone because he smelled like cheese."

"What kind?"

"Blue cheese."

"Ouch. Poor guy."

"Yeah. Well, we hit it off. He was actually pretty funny once you got past all of that. He helped me with some of my classes. In fact, he taught me a lot about computers."  
"I was wondering about that. You are the only one out of the whole group that actually knows something about computers."

"What can I say? He taught me a lot."

"So, what happen with nerd boy?"

"We graduated from high school. And before you ask, yes we did kiss. We kissed during a Halloween party. He was Han Solo while I was Miss Peacock from Clue."

"Really? Wow. Was he a good kisser?"

"Yes, he was."

"So, did you date him?"

"A little. We kept it a secret for a long time. Then we graduated. He went East Coast while I went to West. We simply drifted apart."

"Sorry to hear that." Tiffany waves the bartender again for another shot.

_"Now I am falling asleep_

_ And she is calling a cab_

_ While he's having a smoke_

_ And she's taking a drag"_

"So that is why you like Chuck so much. He reminds you of him." said Tiffany as they both watch the bartender pour another shot.

"Crazy, ain't it?"

"I have seen worse." remark Tiffany to Amber. "Can't say that I blame you. Chuck is not bad looking."

"I know. He does not even smell like cheese." Both girl laughs at the lame joke that Amber made. They grab the shot and drink. They slam the glasses on the counter.

"You do know that Agent Walker will kick your ass if she finds out."

"I wouldn't be much of a spy if I got caught." said Amber.

"Well if it is any consolidation, I am rooting for you."

"Thanks." said Amber.

Both recruits look at the stage and watch Jeff and Lester play.

"I still can't believe that you lost." remark Amber.

* * *

"Dude. Are you serious?" ask Morgan as he stare at his best friend packing a small suitcase.

"Do you see me smiling?" answer Chuck as he places a pair of pants in the suitcase.  
"How come I can't go with you?" ignore Morgan as he ask another question.  
"I am going to England." said Chuck.  
"And?"  
"You have to run the Buy More while I am gone." Answer Chuck. He turns to see his friend disappointed.

"Don't make me. I want to help."  
"Dude. That is how you can help. You just run the Buy More." said Chuck as he resumes his packing.

"It is not fun."

"Oh yeah. Me being stuck in a place for thirteen hour is fun. I am just going to England to find a watch." Chuck let out a sigh. He stops packing his suitcase as he place his focus on his best friend. "Morgan. This is not even an adventure. This is me going to England to check on a lead. I got a reply on that picture that I posted online. That is it. No gunfight, no kung fu ninja, no spy stuff. I am just going to a jewelry store. That is it." points out Chuck.  
"That is it."

"Nothing more or nothing less." confirms Chuck.  
"Fine."

"I'll tell you what, buddy. The next time that I go on a trip, you can come with me." promise Chuck.

"Promise?"  
"Promise."

"OK. What are you going to tell to Sarah?"

"I am going to say that I am fishing."

"Seriously."

"No, I'll say that I am following up on a lead on Jenny."

"The truth, but not the whole truth." comment Morgan.

"You are getting good." point out Chuck.

"Scary thought."

"Not really." Chuck resumes his packing. He let out a sigh. "This is going to be bad."

"What?" ask Morgan.

"That guy that nearly kidnapped her is going to try again and we wouldn't be able to stop him."

"Dude, don't say that."

"Well, he was quick."

"So?"

"I know that I can't beat him."

"Well, you don't have to beat him. Casey can or Sarah. Hell, even the rookies can beat him. You got to stop thinking that you have to do everything. You are not in this alone." reassure Morgan to his best friend.

Chuck look at his friend.

"You don't get it, Morgan. I don't think anyone here can." said Chuck. Morgan looks at his friend's face. It was not a good sight. There was fright on Chuck's face.

"Well, you better hurry up and get that watch. If it can help you with this guy, you need to get it."

"Yeah. I hope it can." Chuck went back into his thoughts and packing.

* * *

His whole body screams at him with anger. He did not bother hiding it. In fact, he started to hit the wall in frustration. With the gloves that he had on, he did not feel anything. However, the wall stood in defiance at his anger.

Major Tom did not lose his cool. When the agents points at him point blank, Major Tom did not stop thinking. He simply place his focus away from Jenny and back on escaping. Deep down he knew that he lost a golden opportunity to destroy the female Time Lord.

He took a deep breath to regain his composure. Major Tom takes an inventory on what he knew.

Jenny is in Burbank, California during the 21st century.

Jenny did not remember him.

Jenny is human.

Jenny was frightened.

Jenny had been there for three years as a human.

Major Tom smile at the thoughts. He looks at his hand to see what kind of damage that he causes to it. He smiles at the thought that he did not do too much damage. He just needs a plan to fix his problem. Without any warning, he starts to laugh.

* * *

Sarah Walker looks at the morning sky with a little frustration. Chuck left a message for Sarah when she got home last night. He was looking into a lead. In a different time, Sarah may find this amusing, fantastic or impressive. When she read that message that the lead is in England, her heart skipped a little faster. While she did not like the thought of Chuck having a solo mission without any back up, she trusts in Chuck's judgment. He had enough experience under his belt in not getting into a situation. Still, it did not mean she is not going to worry about him.

She takes out her building keys. While the frozen yogurt place is a cover for the underground fortress called the Castle, it still had to look like a retail storefront, which means that she had to keep set hours and lock the storefronts in the evening.

"Excuse me, Ms. Walker." The voice snaps her out of her train of thought. Sarah curse to herself in letting herself get surprised. She turns to the voice and found Jesse Smith standing in front of her. She is wearing her Buy More uniform.

"Agent Smith. What are you doing up so early?" ask Sarah to the young agent.  
"I figured that I should get some research in about Major Tom before I do my shift at the Buy More." reply the future CIA agent.

"Give me a minute to unlock the Castle." said Sarah. While most of the recruits annoyed her, this one had impressed her. She was smart and she put in the hard work. Sarah unlocks the door so the young agent can do her job.

"Can I ask a question?" ask Jesse.  
"Sure." Sarah opens the door and let the agent walk in. They walk in the building. Jesse turns to Sarah, showing that she needed to talk her.

"I think we might have a problem." said Jesse.

"That is not a question, Agent Smith. That is a proclamation." Sarah locks the door behind her. She looks around the area. Nothing unusual. Sarah approaches the cash register and hit the nine-five-one buttons. The register made a few ding and the screen show the all clear. For Sarah, it meant that she can talk freely without worrying about any bugs in the building.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. It is that I tend to get nervous." apologize Jesse once Sarah give her the signal to continue.

"That is not a good thing. You know that." Point out Sarah.

"Yes, I am trying to get it out of my system." said Jesse.

"Well, say what you were going to say." directs Sarah.

"I don't think Jenny Carmichael is who she say she is." declare Jesse. Sarah smile went away. Her professional mode went up as quickly as her smile went away.

"Explain."

"I know that you did the primary research on her. The problem is that I went back on the research to see if there is a connection between her and Major Tom. I also went back and verify the research."

"What did you find out?" ask Sarah.

"Everything that we know about her is only three year old." proclaim Jesse

"Excuse me?"

"Jenny's records are real as far back as three years ago. After that, it is all paper thin." clarify Jeese.

"Meaning?" Sarah knew what it meant, but she wanted to make sure that the future agent knew what she was talking about.  
"Meaning that everything, while on paper, exists. Once you take out the paper out of the equation, there is nothing to verify that she actually did it."

"Example?" ask Sarah.

"According to her record, she graduated from Indiana University with a teaching degree. I know someone at the University. I called him to verify her existence. He cannot verify her existence there. In fact most professors did not have any record of her attending any classes there."

"That is a big statement to state." said Sarah.

"I know. That is why I told you about it. I still have to verify a lot of information, but I think someone created an identity for her like the Agency would for us if we were on a mission." Sarah did not bother hiding her frustration.  
"How long will it take to verify everything?" ask Sarah.

"Give me to the end of the day."

"Tell you what? I will have Thomas help you out." said Sarah as she could feel her impatience growing over the situation.

"Ma'am?"  
"If what you say is correct, then that woman is lying to us. Considering that there is a known terrorist out there looking for her, I want the truth in what we just step into. I want this done ASAP."  
"Yes, ma'am. I do have one problem. I am schedule to work at the Buy More."

"Morgan will fix it." Sarah could feel her venom in her voice. She wants the young agent to feel the urgency in her voice. "Get that research done."

"Yes, Ma'am." Jesse walks toward the freezer which serves at the entrance to the Castle.

"When did I become a Ma'am?" ask Sarah to no one in particular.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

She made a special trip out here. It did not take long, but she had to do it. Martha Jones did not believe it when she heard about it. She was in Argentina when she heard the rumor. She was still on a mission, so she did not give the rumor another thought. However, the rumors never went away. She would hear it from some of her contacts in UNIT from time to time. That disturbed her more. She simply thought it was a lie to keep everyone from coming to this place. However, she made it a point in her mind that she would come back. Now that Martha is here, it did leave a deep pit in her stomach that she wishes went away.

Martha is standing on the ground of what used to have been the headquarters of the organization called Torchwood.

There is no small building. There is no water fountain. All there is concrete walkway and an uneasy stillness in the air. For Martha Jones, it was not the long strip of concrete that bother her.

There is no sound here. There is no car passing by the place. There is no one walking anywhere near this place. Martha Jones look around the area to see that there is not even birds flying near by. She is the only thing on the strip of land by the river.

Torchwood no longer exists. She had to accept that. Martha felt the world becoming a scarier place because of it. Whatever happened here, it was big and Martha Jones wish that she was here to have stopped it.

The world felt different. That is all Martha Jones knows. One morning she woke up and felt it. It could have been the time that she spent being the traveling companion for the Doctor. It could be all the time that she spent with UNIT. Whatever it was, Martha felt the world change around her. Even though everyone was still doing the same thing that they did, she knew something was wrong. Martha always figured that she could come back to Torchwood and ask for Captain Jack's opinion.

That is no longer an option.

Martha Jones star at the area. She wondered why Jack never contacted her. She wondered what happened here. Martha wondered what would happen now. Is all the data that Torchwood had still exist? Is there anyone safeguarding those secrets?

Martha Jones takes a deep breath. There are a lot of unanswered questions that she had. At the moment, they had to be put on hold. The world still needs protecting. She had to do it now. She had to be the one to find out why there is a Time Agent out there terrorizing the world. She had to be the one to find the Time Lord pocket watch. She had to be the one to protect the world.

Of course there is the Doctor. However, Harriett Jones did say something that stayed with Martha. "What would happen if the world needs saving and the Doctor is not here to save us?" Martha had this thought for a while now. She had not been able to reach the Doctor ever since he saved Mickey and Martha. At that time, she could see a lot of sadness in his eyes. No words were exchanged at that time, which bothered her to no end. He simply saved them and walked away. Right now may be one of those times that Harriett Jones feared.

Martha Jones starts to fiddle with her wedding ring. At least she still had Mickey.

Martha starts to walk back to her car and resume her mission in protecting the world.

* * *

Chuck looks around and takes a deep breath. This is a different feeling. He also knows that he had better get used of this feeling. He looks around at the different city in the different country with no backup. There is no John Casey watching his back. There is no Sarah Walker by his side. He had to let the smile out. It is exciting and scary at the same time.

Chuck could not remember when the last time he got a vacation. While this was not a vacation, being in first class on a plane and getting a five star hotel did help. After getting some sleep that did not involve a moving vehicle and breakfast that did not contain packet of nuts, he decided to hit the jewelry store in the morning that posted the reply to his message.

Chuck is wearing a long brown jacket with a nice suit underneath it. While it was not something he would wear, he figured that he had to be respectable since he is walking into a jewelry store.

He walks into the shop and saw no one was waiting behind the counter. The store screams class and expensive. There are paintings of classic pictures from the Renaissance on the wall. Chuck approaches the glass counter with some hesitation. As he lord over the jewelry, his mind went to Sarah. Other then mission, he could not remember his girlfriend wearing any jewelry.

He looks over the earrings. There are small earrings. Chuck looks at the big earrings and wonders how they even stay on someone's ears.

He looks at the pearls and wonder how the oyster keep pearls inside of them. He also wonders if it would be a good thing if he actually starts watching the discovery channel to actually learn something instead of cartoons.

He slowly approaches the necklace. Without any hesitation, he kept walking. Too many missions have involved a necklace.

Once he looms over the rings, he had to stop. It was not any rings that caught his eyes. They are engagement rings. He had to hold his breath for a minute. He let it out once he realize that he almost on his way of passing out.

He stares at the rings. He looks at the different designs. Chuck imagines how the rings would look on Sarah's finger. He wonders if she would care on the size of the rings. Would she want something classical or modern? Did she want a ring that screams expensive or would Sarah Walker want a ring that is small and practical since she is a CIA agent. It is only when the jeweler let out a groan that he realizes that he was staring at the rings too hard.

"Hi."  
"Hello. Can I help you?" ask the jeweler.  
"I hope so." Chuck take out his phone from his coat pocket. He starts to look for the picture of the pocket watch that he posted online. He smiles when he finds it and hold it up for the jeweler to see. "Someone send me a reply about this watch."

The man leans closer to the picture of the watch.

"I did." said the man.

"Really."

"I found that watch a few years ago. I polished it but never saw if it works. I never really gave it much thought to see if it did. I simply placed it in the glass counter and left it. I had it for sale for a long time. I dare say that I forgot about it until I finally sold it a few months back."

"You're kidding."

"No, sir." answer the jeweler.

"Do you remember who you sold it to?" ask Chuck, hoping for a good answer.  
"Of course I do. I sold the pocket watch to Donna Noble-Temple." The jeweler said it with pride.

"Who?"  
"Obviously you are not from here." state the jeweler.

"I'm from Burbank." The man stares at him with some confusion. "California."

"Oh. Well, sorry to hear that." Chuck let the remark go.

"Thanks. So who is Donna Noble-Temple?" ask Chuck.

"She happens to be one of the richest women in England."  
"Oh."

"I did not even recognize who it was until she left. Nevertheless to say, I nearly had a heart attack."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Did I not mention that she won the lottery?" points out the jeweler.  
"No."

"Biggest jackpot in the countries' history. She won the whole thing." said the jeweler.

"Wow." said an impressed Chuck.

"Yes. I was in the sight of the luckiest woman in the world."

"I can see how that can be intimidating."

"It was not intimidating. I found out when she left the store. A customer walked in when she was leaving. She was the one who pointed her out to me."

"You wouldn't happen to know where I can find her." ask a hopeful Chuck.  
"No, she paid in cash. Ever since she won the lottery, she has kept her residence a secret."

"OK. Thanks for your help." Chuck start to walk towards the door.

"Why are you looking for this watch?" ask the curious jeweler.  
"Oh. Friend lost it a long time ago. I was hoping to find it for her."  
"Good luck."

"Thanks." Chuck walk out of the jewelry store with a little heavy heart. He was hoping this would be easy.

"Of course, it would not be easy. What was I thinking?" said Chuck to no one in particular as he start his walk back to his hotel.

* * *

"_Of course, it would not be easy. What was I thinking?"_ Martha listens from a distance with a listening device. She was thirty second away from entering the jewelry store when she saw him. The long brown jacket and shoes almost send a chill. The man almost looks like the Doctor. Since he passes by her, Martha let out a breath. If he was the Doctor, he would have been hugging her. Not wanting to attract too much attention, she simply waited outside. She was a little curious who this was so she took out her listening device to eardrop on the conversation. The listen device is a standard UNIT device. It is able to penetrate several layers of concrete wall to listen to a conversation. Being UNIT issued, the device fit into her ear.

The moment that Donna's name was mentioned, her heart skipped.

Shortly after Martha and her friends save the world from the Dalek's empire, Martha did receive a call from the Doctor. Once he told her what had happen to Donna, her heart skipped. Donna was good for the Doctor. What happen to her did not surprise her. The Doctor's world had that effect on people. Of course, it did not mean that she was not disappointed.

She had hope that nothing would happen to Donna. But it did and she agreed with the Doctor to keep an eye on her when she can. Of course, she would not make any contact with her; in fear that Donna's memory would come back.

Martha watch as the man walk away from the jewelry store. Whoever he is, he might be a problem. After all, he posted the picture. Martha started to follow the man hoping to find out what was going on.

* * *

"I hate this." said Casey as he reviews the report that is in his hand.

"Same here." said Sarah as she sits in her chair. It has been twelve hours since the rookie found the discrepancy in Jenny's identity.

"Give me one reason why I should not let that girl go onto the public."

"Because she is our only lead to Major Tom." said Sarah.

"I really don't like that reason."

"It's the only one that counts. Everything about her is a fake. Very good fake, but a fake nevertheless."

"So, she found someone that made her a fake profile. That screams that she is hiding.  
"So, she is hiding from someone or is hiding to do something."

"My best guess is that she is hiding from someone. Tell me that she is on the list." Ask John Casey. The List that he was referring to is the list of people who undergo the Witness Protection program.

"I called and received the no. She was not put here by anyone from our side." reply Sarah.

"Great. So it is a safe guess that she is hiding from Major Tom."

"Looks like that."

"Where is Chuck?" ask John.

"He is in England looking up some lead. He didn't tell me on what?"  
"OK." Casey leans toward his partner. "Want my opinion?"  
"Yeah, because right now I am feeling like that we are being played."  
"We are, but you know that we can't put her out in the cold. Like you pointed out she is our only lead, we got to play this out."

"I know. I just wanted to hear you say that."

"I did get a message back from General Beckman. She did say that she is sending an expert."  
"Really." Sarah looks at the picture of Major Tom. "I don't like this."

"Unfamiliar territory. You got to roll with the punch, Walker."

"I am sorry. I am just not used to people vanishing on us into thin air."

"Then don't think about it. Think of it like dealing with a terrorist. We need to find the threat and contain it. That is it. Everything else is just crap." reassure John Casey.

"Yeah, how do we stop him from vanishing?" ask Sarah to her partner.

"Simple. We knock his ass out." Sarah looks at her partner after he said this. The sheer simplicity of the statement put a smile on Sarah Walker's face. The funny part of the statement is the fact that John Casey is right.

"Simple and effective. I like it." agree Sarah.

"Thought you would. So, have any thoughts about what we are going to do with the girl?" asks Casey.  
"I actually do. We stay on her. We protect her from Major Tom. When he comes after her, we knock his ass out. We use our agents to keep the perimeter secure. The rookies will stay here at the Buy More and the Castle. We wire the safe house with cameras, so they can monitor the location from here."

"What about Chuck?"  
"He's not a part of this. If anything, I prefer that he follow any leads while we watch over this woman. If anyone can find out what the hell is going on, it would be Chuck." said Sarah Walker.  
"Alright. Let's get Morgan down here so he can get the schedule right."

* * *

Chuck looks up at the sky and shook his head. The rain is coming down hard on his head. The drop felt big and it was the right size for him to get drenched. He looks around at the area. Most people are running inside or taking out their umbrella. All he can do is sigh and start walking back to the hotel.

"Need an umbrella?" The voice grabs Chuck's attention. He sees an elderly man wearing a red hat and a brown jacket. He looks like he has not shaven, but is very dry under his small newspaper shack. There are magazines and newspapers.

"Yes." Instantly respond Chuck.

"Get in here." He opens up the door. Chuck walk in the small area dripping of water. The old man reaches for a towel that is on the floor. "Here."

"Thanks." Chuck starts drying himself.

"What's your name?"  
"Name's Chuck."  
"Wilfred Motts. Please to meet you." He extends his hand out to Chuck, who simply shook the hand.

As the rain came down on Martha Jones, she could feel her heart racing. While she had never met Wilfred Motts, she knew what his importance is in the grand design of the universe. Wilfred Motts is the grandfather of Donna Noble.

"Of course, why should anything be easy?" sighs Martha, knowing how things were going to go.

"So, what are you doing out here in this weather?" said Wilfred as he close up his newspaper stand. He lowers the board to keep the rain out.

"Long story."  
"Not from around here, are you?"  
"Is it obvious?" ask Chuck. Wilfred simply nods. "Great."

"It's not a bad thing. You have to see the big beautiful world. If I was your age, I would do the same thing."  
"Well, I have to admit, I don't get to see enough of it." answer Chuck as he flip though his mind on how many places he actually seen compare to the number of missions that involve being in those place.

"Tea?" Wilfred show Chuck a thermal canister.  
"Sure." Wilfred opens the canister and pours the hot liquid in a small plastic cup and hand it to Chuck. Chuck takes a drink from it.

"So, what's wrong?" ask Wilfred as he pour tea in the plastic cup.

"Excuse me?"

"What's wrong?" ask Wilfred as he drinks his own tea.

"What makes you think that something is wrong?" ask Chuck.  
"You just have that face like you are worry about someone."

"It's that obvious." Wilfred nod. Chuck sighs. "I am looking for something and I don't know how to get it without committing some sort of crime."  
"So you know where it is."  
"I have a general idea. I am hoping I can buy it. If that does not work, I am pretty sure that I will have to steal it."  
"Sound very MI-6."

"Sound more criminal." corrects Chuck.

"What is so important about this thing?"

"I think it might save the world." Chuck look at the friendly old man, waiting to be kicked out.

"You mean to tell me that the world needs to be saves."

"Yep. Long story short, a friend of mine needs it to do just that. I don't know how, but she needs it."

"What is it?"

"A pocketwatch. It's silver that has inscriptions on it. I think it might have a design on it." Chuck reach in his pants pocket and pull out his phone and start to look for the picture of the pocket watch and show it to Wilfred.

"A pocketwatch?"

"Yeah. It got sold the other day from a jeweler. I just need to get it."

Wilfred takes the picture out of Chuck's hand and look at the picture. He reaches inside his coat pocket and feels the pocket watch in his pocket. He remembers how he got it.

* * *

_ Wilfred looks at the dining room. It is bigger then the house that they used to live in. After the Doctor's wedding gift hit every number, Donna went from a temp to one of the richest women in the country. Within days, they went from a small house to a mansion in the country. Now, Wilfred is having a party in a ballroom with several of his friends that he had buses in. _

_ But someone is missing. He starts looking for his grand daughter. While his friends were dancing, he kept up his search with a smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his granddaughter out in the balcony looking at the starry sky. He started to walk toward her. _

_ "Are you alright?" ask Wilfred_

_ "I am fine, Gramps."  
"Nice night."  
"Yes, it is. I got the telescope ready once every one is gone."  
"Good." Answer the grandfather of Donna Noble._

_Donna turns to face her grandfather. "By the way, here is your birthday gift."  
"You shouldn't have. Just this party alone is a good gift."  
"I know. But I still wanted to." Donna reaches in her coat pocket and takes out the pocketwatch._

_ "Donna. It is wonderful." Wilfred smile at his granddaughter. His smile went away when he saw it. His granddaughter face went from smiling to a space out look. He saw it once and things changed._

_ "It's your to safeguard. Orion's son is coming for it. He needs it for the Gallifrey's forgotten daughter. Everything is in danger if she does not get it." plainly said Donna without even knowing that she is saying it._

_ Donna shook her head. _

_ "What happened there?" ask Donna._

_ "You spaced out there."_

_ "Sorry. I think I need something to eat." said Donna. Wilfred took his granddaughter's hand._

_ "Well, let's get something to eat. Can't have you falling over on me." said Wilfred as he escort his granddaughter inside. He did not let his granddaughter see him worry. He did not want his granddaughter see how frightened he got when she said the word: Gallifrey. He did not want his granddaughter to even remember that she said that. For now, he will take her advice and move on until the time is right. _

_

* * *

_

"You would not happen to know what Orion is." Chuck nearly spit out the tea when Wilfred ask his question.

"What did you say?"  
"Orion. What does that mean to you?"

"It is a constellation." said Chuck, who is trying to keep it together.

"So, you are not his son." ask Wilfred.

"Yeah, I am." answer Chuck, without knowing why he just told the truth.

"I figured." Wilfred takes out the watch.

"Oh my God!" said Chuck as he look at the pocketwatch.

"Someone told me that you were coming for it."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Chuck takes the watch off Wilfred's hand. For a brief second, he can hear a female voice. It fades away and Chuck shook his head.

"Does that help?"  
"It will keep me out of jail. You have no idea how important this is."

"I have an idea. Now, go on. This rain is not letting up, but you got a world to save."

"Thank you." Chuck ran out the newspaper stand without worrying about the rain.

* * *

Martha points the gun and fire.

With Chuck being distracted, he did not feel the tiny GPS device attach itself on Chuck. Martha Jones starts to follow Chuck with a worried face. Whatever happened in the newspaper stand, it made Chuck smile. Martha Jones did not like the rain. While her listening device can go through walls, it cannot separate the talking from the rain drops without another device that she did not have on her. So, she simply waited. The way Chuck was running, it cannot be good news. Whatever is going on, Martha cannot wait any long. She steps out into the rain and start following Chuck.

* * *

Jenny look depressed. Sarah had dealt with this type of situation before. The safe house did not even look like a home. It usually contains the required necessity. It had the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, couch and television. It had all the necessary things to that a person may need. It was not a home though.

Sarah Walker decided that it was time to talk to the mysterious woman. So, she stopped off at the Lou's deli and picked up a few sandwich for the men and Jenny. The man protecting her was happy with the lunch. Jenny simply went back to her room. Sarah took a deep breath and followed her to her room.

Sarah found Jenny lying in bed staring at the ceiling. The bedroom had small television and a drawer.

"How are you doing?"  
"Horrible. There is a guy that wants to kill me and I don't know why. I have papers to grade, but I can't even go back to my house to get them."  
"It's necessary."

"I know that. It does not make me feel any better."

"Have you given much thought on why this man wants to kill you?" ask Agent Walker.  
"Agent Walker. That is all I have been thinking about. Know what I have figured out?"  
"No."

"I am cursed."  
"Let's not be so dramatic."

"Sorry. I was not expecting that my life will have to be on hold for some crazed killer." Answer Jenny.  
"Well, we will get him and you can go back to your life."

"I hope so. I miss my boys." Sarah could see one thing. Jenny did miss her boys. Whoever Jenny was three years ago, it may not be the same person then she was now. She had constructed a life that meant something to her now. Sarah could relate to this.

"We will get him." said Sarah.

"You will get another chance." said a male voice. Both Jenny and Sarah felt a chill go up their spine. Sarah takes out her gun and swing toward the direction of the voice. Jenny looks straight at the television to see the owner of the voice. Major Tom is on the screen with a smile.

Sarah did not know why, but she points her gun at the television.

"I know where you are. I can find you. It does not matter where you go; I know exactly how to find you now. It does not matter who you have helping you. I will get you." Sarah grabs the remote and hit the power button. The television stays on with Major Tom's smiley face.

"No one can help you. No one can save you. You are going to die. Whoever is helping you is going to die with you." Sarah fired her gun at the screen. The television set let out a small explosion.

"We got to go right now." said Sarah. She grabs Jenny's hand. They both run out of the room. They both stop as they saw the frightening sight.

Both men were dead in their chairs. They were slump over the table with their uneaten sandwich. Both women look at the sight with shock. Unlike Jenny, Sarah absorbs the scene for a second. After the second, the television screen turns on.

"See. There is no one that is able to help you. Any one that thinks that they can will die. You have twenty four hours to meet back at the Buy More. You will come alone or everyone in the Burbank area will die. I will see you then." The television screen went black.

Sarah takes out her cell and hit the only number that matter.

"Casey."

"We got a problem." said Agent Walker to her partner.

"What?"

"The safe house has been compromised. I'm taking her back to the Castle. Get a new safe house ready. Don't tell anyone."

"What about the rookies?"  
"Keep them out of this for their own safety. This is one mission they need to stay out off. Casey, the guards are dead."

"Jeez. I'm on my way back to the Castle." Sarah grabs the frightened Jenny.

"We got to go."

"Why is he doing this?"  
"It does not matter. All that matter is stopping him and keeping you safe." Sarah starts walking out the door, wondering how she can do that.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

As Martha Jones walks onto the plane, she starts surveying the whole area. There are various groups of people on the plane. There are honeymooners finishing up their trip by discussing what they saw on their trip, while there is an old couple ignoring each other because they had a fight before they got on the plane. There are various other individuals that are on the plane, but they did not interest Martha. It was the goofy man that saw Wilfred that interested her. He is sitting on a seat by the aisle with two sleeping business men who just closed a telecommunication deal. He still has that goofy smile on his face as he reads his comic books. He is look up from his comic book to see Martha. She passes by the man with the goofy hair and gives him a small smile. He in turn smiles back and looks back at his comic book. Martha Jones continues making her way to her seat as she reviews in her head how she got here.

Martha Jones followed the man back to the hotel. She walked into a convenience store that was across the street from the hotel. As she walked down the aisle filled with chips, she took her cell phone out. It was not like the other cell phones that were out there. It was a special UNIT phone that she received while she worked there. It allowed her to access files on UNIT's own computer. It also allowed her to access any file from any server in the world. At that moment, she accessed the files from the hotel. As she look through the files looking for any individuals that arrived recently. Her attention was sway when she saw that someone was checking out of the hotel. She put the cell phone away and looked out the store's window. Within minutes, the man that she followed ran out of the hotel and got a cab. She grabbed a candy bar and paid for it. She hailed her own cab to follow him. While the cab driver followed the mysterious man, Martha took out her phone again. She looked at the name of the man who checked out: Charles Bartowski.

Within minutes, she found out more about this mysterious man. She found out where he was going. He was heading toward the airport. Within minutes, she called in a favor and got a ticket to the same destination: California.

As she walked in the airport terminal, she noticed a male UNIT soldier with a bag beside him. There is a little girl staring at the UNIT soldier. She is holding a pink suitcase. He was standing up straight like a good soldier; paying no attention to the little girl. She approached him while scanning for Charles Bartowski.

"Mum." acknowledged the soldier.

"At ease. What are you doing here?" ask Martha.

"I am here to assist you."

"Walk with me. I have to get to the plane." The UNIT officer picked up his bag and followed Martha as she started to walk toward her terminal.

"Do not worry. The plane is experiencing some sort of malfunction. The flight has been delay for a hour." said the soldier with a little smile. Martha smile back.

"Well, this makes it easy. I left all of my things back at the hotel. I am going to need them."

"Is there anything sensitive at your hotel room?" ask the UNIT officer.  
"No. Just my clothes and my passport."

"UNIT has everything on file on you. They have taken the liberty of constructing a new passport for you." The soldier reached inside his coat pocket and took out a passport. Martha took the passport from the officer and opened it up. It did have her picture and her information on it. "UNIT has also taken the liberty to have a bag made out for you with clothes and other traveling items. As for your personal items at the hotel, we will confiscate them for you."

The UNIT officer passed the bag to Martha. Martha put her passport in her own coat pocket and took the bag off the officer's hands.

"Thank you."

"Is there anything else?" asked the UNIT soldier.

"Any news on my husband?" asked Martha.  
"Your husband arrived at his destination about three hours ago. That is all we know."

"Refresh my memory. Where did he go?"

"I think his destination was Burbank, California."

"It is all connected. That is not good."

"What is?"

"Everything." answered Martha. "Contact the UNIT in that area. I want to have a team ready at a moment's notice. We may have a situation."  
"Yes, Mum. Is there anything else?"

"No. Thank you for all of your help. You are dismissed." Martha did not like the commands. She did not like the fact that sometimes she had to be the commanding officer. It did not feel right to her.

"No, Mum. Thank you. It has been a honor." replied the officer as he stopped walking beside her and saluted her. Martha stopped and saluted back.

As she put her bag in the compartment above her head, she was hoping to be closer to the mysterious man called Charles. For now, she will just have to watch over the man called Charles from her seat. What troubles her is the fact that he is going to Burbank, the same location where the renegade Time Agent was sighted. She did not like this. Everything seems connected and not in the good way. It remind her too much of her time with the Doctor. Whatever is going on, she knows that it had to deal with this mysterious man.

So, she leans back in her chair and wait.

* * *

For Mickey Smith, he is simply sitting in his own chair and table eating a frozen yogurt. He came in looking for a Sarah Walker. According to his wife, Sarah is the agent in charge. Being a CIA agent, her cover is working at a frozen yogurt shop. She would meet Mickey at this frozen yogurt shop. It has been an hour since he arrived and no one was here. There was not even a person to help him with his order. So, he helped himself to the yogurt.

"Horrible yogurt." remarks Mickey as he put down the frozen mango yogurt and moves it away from him.

The door of the building opens up. Mickey places his focus on the incoming people. It is two blonde women. Both women had a frightened face. Mickey gives both women the up down look. When he saw what appeared an outline of a gun underneath the tall blonde's jacket, Mickey figure which one is Agent Walker. Neither of them seems to have noticed that he was here.

"Agent Walker." said Mickey. Without warning, she pulls out the gun and points it at Mickey. The coldness in her eye told him everything he needed to know. He simply raises his hands in response.

"Who are you?" ask the woman pointing the gun at Mickey Smith.

"Mickey Smith. You should be expecting me."

"Do you have any ID with you?" ask Agent Sarah Walker.

"It is in my right pant's pocket."

"Get it out slowly." reply Agent Walker.

Mickey slowly reaches in and takes out his wallet. He opens it up to reveal his ID. He promptly shows it to her. She looks at it with some skepticism.

"Why are you here?"  
"I was called in to help you with a disappearing terrorist. If I had to take a guess, you met him again." Deduct Mickey as he continues to keep his focus on the gun.

"Yeah. He found the safe house and he killed some agents to make a point." Mickey shook his head slightly in disappointment.  
"Let me guess what the message was: He can get to her at anytime and at any point." figures Mickey.

"Yeah."

"I am going to reach inside my jacket pocket and I am going to take out a device."

"What type of device?" asks Sarah.

"Something that can help."

"Move slowly." warns Sarah.

Mickey reaches inside his jacket pocket to pull out a metal cylinder. He presses the top button without hesitation. Sarah's eyes grew with fright.

"This is a scrambler. I am sure that you have used something similar. What makes mine better is the fact that it is more advanced then anything that is out there for the next few centuries. If this man is looking for you in any way, you are now safe. Within reason." explains Mickey.

"Doesn't do us any good if we are the only area that he can't get to."

"Did I not mention that it covers the whole state?" Sarah did not bother hiding her look of surprise. "Guess I didn't?"

Mickey stands up.

"Now, I think I need to know how bad this situation is." said Mickey.

"Like I said, he kills everyone in the safe house and I have no idea how. He was not even in the room." Sarah slowly put away her weapon. She did not take her eyes off of Mickey.

"So how did you know that he was there?"

"He told us that he did via the television and radio." reply Sarah.

"Now I am glad that I put up the scrambler."

"How does that thing work?" ask Sarah as she point at the device in Mickey's hands.

"Short story is that all communication will be down for the next twelve hours or so."

"So, we got a whole twelve hours before he can find us." assume Sarah.

"I am sure that we have more but we got to find a secure place that he can't find

us. If he talked to you via the radio or a television set, then we got to find a place that does not have any signal like radio, television, or cell phones. If I had to take a guess, he must have used a device that let out a signal that killed your agents. With the television and radio near by, he does not have to be there to hurt you." Figures Mickey Smith based on his experience.

"How about a bunker that has a dead zone." said a voice. Everyone turn toward the sound of the voice. Mickey sees a built man coming from the back of the store. He is dress in black and is carry a bag.

"Casey." acknowledge Sarah.

"Walker. Who is this?" ask the man called Casey.

"Mickey Smith. I am your back up." answers Mickey.

"Good. You never answered my question. Will a bunker with its own dead zone work?" ask John Casey.

"If you mean a communication dead zone, yeah. It should work."

"Good. I know the perfect place." John Casey starts walking toward the door outside with the girls following him.

"Seems friendly." remark Mickey as he follows the group out.

* * *

"So what do you think is going on?" ask Thomas to Amber as she is reading the manila folder that Lester and Jeff gave her.

Amber is sitting on her seat behind the Nerd Herd desk. Thomas is leaning toward her with his million dollar smile. Amber continues to ignore the smile and focus on the content in the manila folder.

"What are you talking about?" ask Amber.

"Amber. John left here and told us to stay. Something must be going on." reasons Thomas.

"Don't know. If it is something, we are probably not even cleared for it." Amber did not bother placing her attention to Thomas. She kept her focus on the folder filled of information.

"Aren't you a bit curious?"

"If I want to get my ass tore up by Agent Casey, yeah I am curious. Since I don't, I am not curious." She finally got to the part of Chuck's story that she wants to read, his love life.

"Well, I was curious and now I am glad John did not call us." said Tiffany as she approaches the desk. Amber look up from her folder. Thomas did a look over on Tiffany, hoping that she did not notice. He did not see her dark expression on her face.

"OK. Since you do not like to be nosy like Thomas, now you got my attention." said Amber. "What's going on?"

"Remember Jenny and the safe house that Agent Walker and Agent Casey put her in, it is compromised." explain Tiffany.

"What?" said Thomas.  
"Yeah. Guess what? Every agent in that safe house is dead."

"How did you find out?" ask Amber.

"I got really good reliable sources." said Tiffany.

"What are we doing here then? Aren't we supposed to be agents here? We should be out there." said Thomas as he points outside.

"I hate to say this, but we have no idea where they went. I went to the Castle and the whole thing is rebooting. It will be an hour before we can even get a decent lead." said Tiffany.

"We could go to Agent Casey's apartment." said Thomas.

"Good idea, but who will cover us?" ask Tiffany.

"I will." said Amber. "The whole situation just changed. We need to be in the loop if something like this happens. If for anything else, we need to protect each other."

"OK. Let's go." Tiffany looks at Thomas with some skepticism, but start to walk with him to the door of the Buy More. If it was not the fact that Jesse and William walk in the Buy More with freak-out face, they would have kept going. Both Tiffany and Thomas stop in their track.

"Jesse, are you alright?" ask Tiffany.  
"Hell no." Both recruits look a little shock from Jesse's response. Both agents follow Jesse and William to the Nerd Herd desk.

"OK, now I am curious. What is going on?" ask Thomas to William, who traded with him shifts for a hundred dollars.

"Dude, you have no idea what we just found out." reply William to Thomas. Thomas shows both agents a flash drive.

"What is that?" ask Tiffany.

"I can't even tell you what I just found out. Let me just show you. Get everyone in the entertainment room." said Jesse.

Within a few minutes, the six recruits were in the entertainment room with the curtain. Amber is setting up a laptop and the big screen television.

"Guys. This intel has to stay with us. When Agent Walker get back, we can tell her, but don't tell anyone else." said Jesse.

"Seriously, how big is this?" ask Jake.

"I have not an effing idea." reply Jesse.

"OK, I am scared. I don't think you have ever said effing since you got here." said Tiffany.

"I am at the edge of cursing up a storm here."

"OK. Just show us." said Thomas. William hand the drive to Amber, who plug it in. A recording start to play.

"What you are seeing is a recording during the 1980's. It is a bank robbery in London. Look at who is the girl eating the fish and chip by the door?" Jesse uses a laser pointer. The red dot is on a blond girl eating.

"That looks like our girl." said William out loud. Everyone is looking at the video as the blond girl put her fish and chips on the counter. She points a wand at the door. As the robber try to open up the door and slams in face onto the lock door. The blond girl walks up to the door and pinches the shoulder of the robber. He falls onto the floor unconscious.

"OK. That is a little freaky." said Jake.

"I know. I freaked out a bit when I saw this. I mean, she looks like our girl. I figure that it could not be her. So, I plug in her face the recognition software this morning. I figure that it may be her mother. Resemblance is there. It is not that bizarre. I mean, how many of us have heard that we look like our mothers or father.

"Not me." answers Jake.

"Me neither." chimes in Thomas.

"Someone told me that I look like my uncle Roger." said Tiffany.

"You have to be kidding." said Thomas.

"Nope. Not something that I am proud of."

"The point being is that we may have found something. So I plug her face in." continue Jesse.

"What did you get?" ask Amber. Jesse presses the button the video to continue.

"I got more videos of individuals that may resemble her. This next video occurred in 1996. Hostage situation in Paris. Look who is there in the lower right hand corner sipping wine." said Jesse using her laser pointer at the individual in the corner.

Every one looks at the corner of the screen.

"You have to be kidding." said Thomas as he recognizes the blonde girl.

"Yeah. Looks like the same girl. Has not even aged at all." answers Jesse.

"OK. How is that even possible?" ask Tiffany.

"Watch this next video. This video should freak you out even more. During the last days of 1999, there was a militant group in China. We had to go in and extract one of our own who was kidnapped. Everything was and still is hush- hush for political reasons. Our team was caught during the operation. They killed everyone on that team except for one. There was only one operative left and he was the one transmitting this video." explains Jesse.

The video only show a line of solider in a row holding guns.

"Crap. That is a firing squad." reasons Tiffany.

"Oh my God." said Amber as she holds her breath.

They watch as the firing squad raise the weapons at the operative, who is still wearing the camera at the time. Everyone jump when they heard the click. The firing squad then looks at their guns that seem to misfire. They watch as small balls land from the sky and in front of the firing squad. Soon, a wave of smoke starts coming out of the balls and blinding the squad. A woman starts running out of the smoke and toward the operative. Jesse pause the video once the face became clearer.

"OK. I have nothing else to say but that is our girl." said William.

"I know. Recognition software is saying that there is a 100% percent that it is one and the same." said Jesse as she looks at her shocked teammates.

"I know that I am beyond messed up in the head. How do we even know that they are the same girl or related." ask Jakes.

"Well, it is the second part of this scene that got me…scared." said Jesse.

"Wait. There is a second part." asks Tiffany. Jesse starts the video right back where she left it. Jenny approaches the operative. She looks the man over.

"Hello. My name is Jenny. I am a friend of Chuck's I am here to rescue you." said the girl in the video.

Everyone took a step back when they heard that. Jesse pause the video. She looks at everyone's shock face.

"OK. Tell me that I just hallucinates that." said Tiffany.

"If you did, I must have taken that same drug because I heard the same thing." reply Amber as everyone else nods their head.

"Before anyone of you asked, no, the tape has not been tampered with." said Jesse.

"OK. I am trying to accept what we just heard. Is there anyway that the Chuck we all know as being our boss here at the Buy More connected to this." ask Jake.

"I did check. At the time of this tape, he would still be in high school. I wouldn't think so, but there is one other thing that did come up."

"Jeez, Jesse. I don't want to see anymore. What did you find?"

"There was a mission about a couple of years ago involving Chuck. This is documented mission. Long story short, she was there. According to the reports, she was an unknown agent that seems to have interfered with the mission. There was some speculation from Agent Walker's report that she may be a person of interest." reply Jesse.

"That is something you can report about. Is it confirmed that she is the agent connected to that mission?" ask Tiffany.

"Yes. Computer has put it 85% match on the face." reply Jesse.

"OK. All of the other info that you found out, Don't report." said Tiffany.

"Why not?"

"Because it is too unlikely and we don't have anything else put pictures and videos. We have nothing to even confirm that it could be her or someone related her. This is too much to put out without anything to back it up."

"That makes sense."

"We can work on the fact that she could be an agent."

"Well, we do have a bigger problem." said Jake.

"What's that?"

"My cell is not working." Everyone took out their cell.

"Neither is mine.

"Mine is dead."

"So is mine."

"OK." Tiffany looks at her fellow future agents. "Jesse and William, go back to the Castle and find out if this is affecting anything. Amber and Thomas, you stay here. We may have something going on and I want to know if it affects only us or everyone. If this bizarre communication blackout is affecting the Burbank area, we are going to get customers coming in here telling us about it. Jake and I are going to Agent Casey's apartment. If I know him, he should be there and I can report that. If he is not there, we are going to find out what is going on with that situation in the safe house. We meet back here in two hours."

Everyone nod with their approval over the assignments and left the entertainment area with their own mission.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Casey flips the light switch on. The bunker's light comes on. Even though he knows that he did not have to do it, John Casey surveys the area to be sure that no one was here. The alarm system starts to beep. The air is fresh because of the air purifier system that was installed during the time of its construction. The bunker living room is big. The couch is the finest leather that the government could buy. There is a huge big plasma television that is hanging on the wall. There is an entertainment system that accompanies it. John Casey made sure that the interior of the bunker could go up against any condominium in Miami, Florida. John could see the bar counter that was constructed to his specification from his distance. John Casey already knows what is in the bar. After all, he told the suppliers to stock up the bar with his favorite drinks. He starts walking into the bunker and approach the security panel that is on the wall.

It flashes an all clear on the panel. John presses his numbers in to disarm the security before it goes to stage two.

"All clear!" yells out the agent. Everyone starts walking into the bunker. Jenny looks around with a little apprehension. Sarah and Mickey survey the area expecting someone to pop up.

"Wow. This place is….wow." said Jenny. Her eyes are big as she observes the place.

"This place was constructed three years ago. It is meant to be long term lodging. So, comfort was a must. The whole place is sustainability to house about fifty people at a time for a period of fifty years. There is a garden the further you go into the bunker. Just don't ask me about its condition. I am pretty sure that the plants have not been watered. There are a state of the art kitchen, three bedrooms, a command center that has not been activated or connected, and a bathroom." said John to the group. Everyone simply stare at it like it was a surprise for it to even be here.

"Do you know where the restrooms are at?" ask Jenny.

"Go to the hallway to your right. It should be the second door on the left." said John as Jenny start to walk in a fast pace to the restroom.

"Wow." said Mickey Smith as he takes in the area. "I have to admit. It is not bad. The spy business is good. I might have to get into that."

"You wouldn't make it." remark John.

"Yes, I would." Answer Mickey with a smile. "So, I take it that this place does not have any food?"

"That is why we went to the store before we got here." reply John.

"Right. I'll go get the food out of the car." said Mickey. Mickey turns around and heads out the bunker, leaving the two agents alone.

It took the agents a day to get to the bunker. The drive to the unknown bunker was far and John did all the driving. Of course, he was the only one that knew about this place. John made sure to stop at a store since he figured that no food would have been in the refrigerator. During the whole trip, Jenny had a scared look in her eyes. She kept looking around the area. Mickey simply reassured her that she was in good hands. Sarah simply kept an eye out, hoping that the man called Major Tom did not make an appearance.

"What is this place?" ask Sarah to her partner as she really take a look at the bunker.  
"It's a bunker." reply John as he starts heading toward the couch.

"No, Casey. Tell me the truth." said Sarah. There are some vintage movie posters that hung from the walls. There was only one that grabs her attention. It was the first thing that caught her eye when she walked in the bunker. It was the one that made her question about how John Casey knew about this place.

"I am."

"Casey. You know where the bathroom is at. The bunker is in the middle of nowhere and you knew where it was. You knew what the alarm code was and where the light switch was. Maybe they have not thought about it, but I have. So, tell me, Casey; how do you know about this place."

John sits down on the couch and look at his partner. He took a deep breath and closes his eye. Once the words form into his head, he starts to answer Sarah's question.

"This is where Chuck would have been sent to if he was compromised in any fashion." reply John.

"What?" Sarah felt a little light headed at hearing this statement. The statement hit her like a ton of bricks falling from a skyscraper.

"C'mon, Walker. Don't make me spell it out to you?" said John as he wishes his partner would drop the subject.

"I think you need to."

"This place is like I said. It was built three years ago. Remember how it was back then. Chuck just got the Intersect in his head and you know how he was. He was very unpredictable. Chuck did not do well with orders and he was very emotional. You and I both had too many scares during that time. This bunker had to be an option."

"It was not that bad."

"Don't feed me that line, Walker. Did you already forget that Fulcrum placed bugs in the Buy More? Remember how close they were in getting Chuck? They were so close to Chuck that they nearly had him. We nearly lost Chuck. This bunker had to be built. We had to have this option available at a moment notice. That is why I had to disappear for a couple of days during that time. I was making sure that it was secure enough for Chuck." John looks at his partner. He is hoping that his words would reach to the agent aspect of Sarah Walker.

"Why didn't you tell me about this place?" said Sarah as she finally digested what John Casey had to say.

"Because you were being too much of a girl in love as opposed to a handler dealing with her asset. I didn't trust what you were going to do." answers John Casey in the most honest fashion he could.

"I was not that bad." defend Sarah.  
"Walker, I was so happy that you and Chuck admit to your feeling to each other because I was going nuts dealing with you pretending to be a cold hearted bitch and dealing with Chuck's love struck puppy eyes toward you. If you two didn't get any sort of resolution, I could have guarantee something would have give and I would have to deal with the fallout. So, yes it was that bad. You were too unpredictable back then. This bunker had to be an option because the alternative would not have been good for anyone of us." said John Casey.

"I didn't think we were that bad."

"It was."

Both agent looks at each other with an awkward silence.

"So how good is this bunker?" ask Sarah.

"Considering that there are only a few individuals that know about this place and it is not on the books. It would take an act of God for this guy to find us." said John with some confidence.

"You know that this is only a temporary solution." said Sarah knowing full well how that statement could change within seconds.

"At least it gives some time in trying to find one." said John.

"I don't think we have any more time." said Mickey as he walks in the bunker with the grocery.

"What makes you say that?" said Sarah. As she looks at Mickey, she instantly took out her gun. Casey did the same thing.

As Mickey walk in, he is being follow by Major Tom, who had guns in both hands. One gun is point at Mickey and the other point at the agents.

"Crap." said John Casey.

* * *

Chuck got out of the cab and look at the Buy More. It is closing time and he is too tired to be here. Being the manager of the Buy More and having Lester and Jeff working at the store, Chuck knew better then not to check up on the store. He took his bag out of the cab and paid the cab driver. He look at the building again as the cab drives off. At least it is still standing. He starts to walk toward the doors. He looks around the area, hoping for no shenanigans or crazed evil spies. The doors open which is a good sign. He look around the sales floor to see a store still standing.

"OK. Everything is still here. That is a good sign." remarks Chuck.  
"Hey, Chuck!" yell out Lester's voice.

"Oh boy. There is all of those good feeling running away." said Chuck to no one in particular. He places his focus at the direction. It was Lester and Jeff. "What's up?"  
"Chuck, you have to fire those manager trainees." said Lester.

"Don't fire, Amber. She smells like beer." said Jeff.

"They have not even been here for the past two days. I would have told, Morgan, but I think he went into hiding." remarks Lester to Chuck.

"Why should I fire them?" ask Chuck. "It is not like any of us hasn't done it before.

"They have been missing since yesterday. It is like you left and they decided to leave to. I mean. It is pretty basic that just because your manager leaves to go fishing, it does not mean that we all get to go home." said Lester to Chuck, who mentally noted in his mind that his excuse is that he went fishing.

"First off, that is right. Second why didn't anyone call?" ask Chuck.

"Cell phone reception was down all day yesterday and today. It was like the whole state of California was in a dead zone. Weird." said Jeff.

"We only got two bars right now. Whatever it was, it is kind of still in the area." said Lester to back up Jeff.

"OK. Let's get the store closes. I will deal with them later." Chuck start going to his office. He walks into his office. He look around to be sure that nothing was out of place. Once satisfied, he closes his door. He put his bag down on the chair and pick up the phone. There was still a dial tone. He press 3-2-1 and wait.

"Hello." answers a female voice.

"Jesse." guess Chuck.

"Chuck. How did you get this number?" The sense of panic is clearly heard in Jesse's voice.  
"I was looking for Sarah."  
"OH. Um. She's not here." Answer the mousy agent.

"Is that Chuck?" said another female voice in the background. Chuck close his eye trying to figure out whose voice it was.

"Yes, it is Amber." answer Jesse.

"I'll go tell Morgan."

"Is that Chuck?" ask another female voice. Chuck figure it had to be Tiffany.

"Yes, Tiffany. It is."

"Tell him to get to the Castle. We got a situation. He used to be a spy. He might be able to help."

"Chuck."

"I heard it all, Jesse and how did you guys know that I used to be a spy?"

"We saw the video from the other day when you fought the guy. We figured out that you were a spy." answer Jesse.  
"Oh."

"But we do have a situation. It is a little complicated."

"OK. I'll be there in a few minute. I just got back and I'll help Lester and Jeff close up. One question. How bad is it?"

"It's bad."

"I'll be there. You will have to let me in." Chuck hangs up the phone. He walks to his bag, open it up and takes out the pocket watch. Chuck places it in his pocket for safe keeping.

* * *

Chuck walk down the stairs of the Castle only to have Tiffany approach him. Her face is in a cold focus that he only seen in John Casey.

"Sir. We have a situation." Tiffany's professional voice is on.

"That what you told me over the phone. What's going on?" Being a leader felt weird to Chuck. Even though he had been the leader of the Nerd Herd, this was different. He is the leader to a pack of individuals that could save the world. It felt like he was Robin stepping in the role of the leader of the Justice League.

Chuck look at the Castle. Four of the recruits are at the conference table, which is cover with papers. The four briefly look up and look at Chuck. To Chuck, it look like relief on their faces.

"Within the past forty eight hours, the safe house was compromised, agents has been killed, Agent Walker and Agent Casey took the girl and gone underground. We found out what that the girl may be an agent of some sort." answer Tiffany as she starts to walk down the stairs.

"Wow. You have been busy." said Chuck as he follows the future agent.

"You have no idea."

"Where's Morgan?" ask Chuck.

"Right here." answers Morgan as he walk in the room with Jake carrying a stack of papers with him. "I had to let Tiffany and Jake out of Casey's apartment. They got caught in one of his traps."

Morgan is still wearing the Buy More uniform. "I don't know how he does it, but he has set up traps in his apartments."

Chuck look at the two agents. They both look down in a little shame.

"Sorry, sir. We were supposed to be professionals at this. It wouldn't have happen again." said Jake.

"Why were you in his apartment?" ask Chuck.  
"We thought he may have a file on Jenny." Answer Tiffany.  
"Why would he?"

"Sir, it turns out that you may have some dealings with her." said Tiffany. Chuck's heart skips a bit. He did not know what to say about this.

"What do you mean?"

"It turns out that this team had to deal with an arms dealer about three years ago. Her face appeared in one of the security camera. I was hoping that Agent Casey may have notes about that case."

"What did you find?"

"Nothing. Everything is secured in a safe that we couldn't crack." said Tiffany. Chuck took a deep breath. He felt a little happy that Casey was through in all things relying to security.

"Don't beat yourself too bad. Casey probably figured that someone would try to break into his apartment. He was just prepared." reassure Chuck to the trainee. "Do we know what hit the safe house?"

"No, sir. Cleaners were just called in and right now the bodies are scheduled for an autopsy." said Jesse.  
"Has anyone informed General Beckman?" ask Chuck.

The silence that came out of their mouth did not sit well in Chuck's stomach.

"Guys. This is something big. The General has to know about this."

"We figured that maybe Agent Casey may have informed her." answers Amber

"That assumption is correct." said a voice from behind. Everyone places their attention on the screen. The video feed shows General Beckman with a face that Chuck is too familiar with: The stern focus face.

"General." acknowledges Chuck. Each recruit stands up and face the General in military fashion.

"Chuck. Sorry, that this is not in the best of terms." said General Beckman.

"Well, I was asked to help."

"Thank you, Chuck." said the General in a rare form of showing him appreciation. "During this interesting time, I am glad that you can help out."

"I think we need to know what is going on." said Chuck to the General.

"The recruits are correct. I was informed by Agent Casey of the situation. Agent Casey took our only lead to a bunker."

"Where?" ask Chuck.

"Due to how the agents were killed in the safe house, I am not divulging that information."  
"Excuse me?"

"Chuck, Agent Casey took the girl to the one place that no one knows about. This bunker is off the books. There is no record of this bunker. I am not taking a chance that this terrorist has found a way to tap into our video feeds. Right now, security is our top priority."  
"Oh."  
"Exactly. Until we find a way to get to Major Tom and neutralizing this threat, we will not go looking for our lead, Agent Casey, or Agent Walker. Considering that Major Tom has hit one of our safe houses, I am not taking any chances." said the General.

"I understand."  
"Good. Now I want the focus be on what Agent Walker and Agent Casey set out to be. What is the connection to Major Tom to this woman?"

Every agents looks down.

"So far, we have not credible. It is nothing but speculation." reply Jesse.

"Not good. Keep digging." Command the General. "Chuck."

"Yes, General."

"How did your lead go?"  
"It might be a good thing. I don't know yet." said Chuck, not knowing if he can trust the General with the ultimate secret.

"My orders to you are the same as the recruits. Give me something credible."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"One last thing: Be careful." With that the General video feed went away. Everyone took a big breath in release.

"I don't want to do that again." said Jake.  
"It gets easier." said Chuck."

"It does?"

"Yeah." Chuck look around. He had to get them to do something. They are agents. They need to do something. "OK. Here is what we are going to do. Jesse and Jake: I need you to start review video feeds from the safe house. I want to know how Major Tom found us and what happened. Tiffany and William: Start looking at what we do have on Major Tom. No speculation. What we actually have on Major Tom. What he actually done. What video feeds that we have on him. Find a connection on the things that he actually did. I would focus on location. Jenny and Major Tom may have cross the same town before with a year of each other. See if there is that connection. We are not going find people being a connection. Maybe it is the location that is the connection. Major Tom doesn't strike me as someone who has friends. Amber and Thomas: I want you two to focus on the archives of the Castle. I sincerely doubt that something is off the books is off the book. If I know Casey, he may take notes to cover his butt. I want to know where this safe house is located at. We can't assume anything with Major Tom. For all we know, he may know this location. I don't want our guys to walk into a trap. Focus on that."

"What are you going to do?" ask Amber.

"Me and Morgan are going to kick Lester and Jeff off the roof."

"What?" said Morgan. Chuck point at the monitor where Jeff and Lester are at. There is a camera on the roof of the Buy More. "Didn't they leave the Buy More?"

"I thought they did. They say that they were going to arm the store security."

"Great. This is how I am going to spend my night dealing with Jeff and Lester while everyone is doing spy stuff."

"You guys have your assignment. I will check in about four hours." said Chuck as his parting words.

Morgan starts walking up the stair with Chuck following him.

Once outside of the Yogurt Yogurt, Chuck lets out a breath.

"Are you alright?" ask Morgan as he walk beside his best friend.

"I think so, Morgan. Not used to being a leader." said Chuck.

"Tell me about it. I have been trying to keep it together until you got here. They are like armed ninja sheep down there. They have to have orders or if they just go all nutso."

"Scary thought."

"That is not the scary thought. You should see what that Jesse uncovered."

"What did she find out?" ask Chuck  
"She found a woman in the 1980s that looks like Jenny."

"Oh." Chuck kept quiet.

"Yeah. It is pretty freaky."

"What did you tell them?"

"Probably a doppelganger. Everyone has one. I wonder what mine is doing right now." said Morgan.

"Probably paying a high class escort to accompany him to the opera." answers Chuck.

"My doppelganger is having more fun then I am. All I am going to do is kick Lester and Jeff off the roof."

"He's probably wishing that he is a spy right now." Reply Chuck, hoping it would make his best friend smile.

"Yeah. You're right. He wishes that he was me." smile Morgan at the thought. Chuck could not help but join him with the smile.

* * *

Martha watches from a distance. This was something that she was not expecting. The man works at a Buy More, a big warehouse type of store that sells electronics. She was expecting an underground lair. She was expecting skyscraper that would house agents. This is something that she did not expect.

Once she felt that the two agents was focus on each other and walk into the store, Martha start to make her way to the store.

* * *

"Dude, what the hell is that?" said Lester as he continues to stare it.

"I have no idea. But I don't like it." answer Jeff.

"It looks like a cappuccino machine."

"From hell."

Both men nearly jump for joy when Chuck left them to close the store. They had plans for the evening. While it seems minor, it was still plans. After dealing with the chaos that they called the management trainees, they wanted nothing more than a quiet evening. What Jeff and Lester did not expect was the fact that the management trainees were a handful. They did not dare reliving the events from the past couple of days. When they had to be the voice of reason, it was a bad sign that it was a long day. A quiet evening for them is simply sitting on the roof of the Buy More and dealing with a case of beer. They would talk about their plans for the band and what potential good ideas can turn into a moneymaker.

When Chuck left them, they rushed to lock the doors and ran up to the roof. They found a surprise waiting on the roof. What made their confusion worse is the fact that they don't know what they were looking at.

"I am still trying to figure out why it has a telescope and what is the deal with those balls on it." Lester starts to approach the object of his fascination. Jeff's hand grabs Lester's shoulder.

"Don't go near it."

"This thing is really freaking you out." notice Lester.

"You have no idea. We need to get away from it."

"Dude. It is only a cappuccino machine."

"FROM HELL!"

"Seriously, you need some help." said Lester.

"Why don't you see it?"

"Oh, I see it, Jeff. I see a cappuccino machine."

"How did it get here?" ask Jeff.

"What?"

"Lester, there is a cappuccino machine on the roof of the Buy More. There is only one explanation on how it got here without anyone noticing." Jeff waits for Lester to say something. "It is from hell."

"OK, Jeffery. I wouldn't touch it. But what are we going to do with it?"

"Leave it and burn the building down."

"Seriously dude. We can't do that. We just got off the wanted list."

"Oh yeah." said Jeff. "Got any better answer?"

"Some frat house put it up here."

"A cappuccino machine. No. They would have put a donkey up here, but not a cappuccino machine."

"That is true." said Lester as he starts to think about it. "OK. But it goes back to the original question. What are we going to do with it?"  
"Do with what?" said Chuck as he and Morgan stare at Jeff and Lester. Both men turn around to see Chuck and Morgan at the entrance.

"Chuck can deal with it." said Jeff.

"Fine by me." said Lester. Both men walk pass by Chuck and Morgan. "See you tomorrow, Chuck."

Both Morgan and Chuck watch Jeff and Lester go back down stair.

"Figures that they are leaving." said Chuck as he watch the two Nerd Herders walk away.

"Yep."

"Now I don't want to know what got their attention." remarks Chuck.

"I hope it is not bad." Both men turn toward what got Jeff and Lester's attention. What they saw is something that they never have seen before. They look at it with fear, curiosity and confusion.

If they knew what it was, they would have run the other direction and kept running until they were in the mountains of Peru.

What they did not know that they are staring at a Dalek.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

As Mickey lands on the floor, he wonders for a brief moment what his life would be like if he never met Rose Tyler. If he never met Rose, he would not have met the Doctor. If he never met the Doctor, he would not have seen alien worlds. If he never seen the alien worlds, he would never have been chased by murderous robots. If he never has been chased by murderous robots, he would not have gotten into shape. After all, running is good exercise. If he had not gotten into shape, he would have not met his wife.

Mickey shakes his head. It is a horrible thought that he did want in his head especially in this situation. He picks himself up from the floor and looks at the situation.

Agent John Casey slams the back of his head on Major Tom's nose as Major Tom squeezes the life out of Agent Casey's body with a classic bear hug. Blood starts to come out of the terrorist's nose, yet he did not let go of Agent Casey. As for Agent Sarah Walker, she is on the other side of the room after being thrown to the couch. Agent Walker is getting up from the couch with a very murderous look on her face. A little stream of blood is coming out of her mouth. She wipes it off using the back of her left hand. Jenny, the object of the crazed terrorist's obsession is still standing in the hallway watching in fear.

Mickey could not take his eyes off of her. There was something about her. He just could not figure it out. She is different, yet something familiar. Yet, he looks at her and knows that his instinct is correct. She can't be an ordinary teacher. No one would go all of this trouble just to kill a teacher. As he observes her, he sees what he needs to see. Her fear in Jenny's eyes is very real. Whatever is going on, it did not matter. She needs his help.

On the way to the bunker, Agent Walker and Agent Casey filled Mickey in on how the whole situation transpired. It was pretty straightforward: Jenny is a target for a crazed murderous manic.

Mickey was hoping this bunker would give everyone time to figure out what was going on. It turns out that his stunt did not work. Major Tom figured out what happened when the whole state turned into a dead zone. Major Tom found all the 'real' dead zones within a 500 mile radius. He then narrowed down the isolated places that had enough room for people to stay hidden.

Once Major Tom found the right place, he appeared a mile away. He kept an eye on the sight; waiting for them to show up. At least, he hoped they showed up. Once they did arrive, he waited for them to go into the bunker. Once he floated up from behind Mickey when he saw Mickey coming out for the grocery. Mickey was very angry about how Major Tom snuck up behind him. Since he floated, Mickey did not hear any footstep from behind him. With a blaster in the hand, Mickey relentlessly let the man in the bunker. Shortly after coming in the bunker, the agents started to fight.

Mickey looks at how Major Casey is doing. It did not look good. Major Tom is not letting go of his bear hug. Mickey sees Agent Walker taking out a knife from her shoe. Considering how well this fight is going on, Mickey did not like their chances.

"I better get in there." said Mickey as he rushes back into the fight. At least his wife is doing something that would not get her kill.

* * *

"Holy crap! It's a bomb." said Chuck as he moves away from the Dalek.

"What!" Morgan jump away from it. "Did you flash?"  
"No. I saw a timer on it." points Chuck.

The first thing that Chuck did was to start to inspect the device that Lester and Jeff found on the top of the Buy More. If Jeff is afraid of it, it could not be a good thing. Of course, Jeff is afraid of babies in animal costume. Chuck started to look at the device with curiosity while his friend watched. Now the timer on the machine killed all curiosity.

"Holy crap. Why is there a bomb on the Buy More?" ask Morgan.  
"I don't know."

"You are the big CIA agent. You should know these things."

"Retired CIA Agent." corrects Chuck.

"Whatever. You have the big computer in the brain. Flash or something."

"How many times do I have to tell you? It does not work like that."

"I am not happy being on the roof with a bomb." states Morgan.

Chuck look at his friend. He could see the fear in his eyes. Chuck has been in this situation too many times. It still scared him, but now he can think clearly in these types of situations. Chuck could only imagine what his best friend is thinking.

"OK. Go get the recruits from the Castle." said Chuck as he try to regain any control of the situation.

"What?"

"I am not kidding, Morgan."

"Which one?"

"Whoever knows how to defuse a bomb. I'll watch over the bomb. Just don't use any cell phone." said Chuck

"You think that it may trigger it?" figures Morgan.

"I really don't want to take that chance, Morgan."

"Ok." Chuck look at his friend. The fear was coming down, which is a good sign. Morgan starts to walk away from his friend. "Just don't blow up."

"Not planning on it."  
Morgan looks at his friend. Chuck simply nods to his friend. If he did not give Morgan permission to go, Morgan would stay up here.

Morgan turns and run downstairs.

Chuck places his attention on the mysterious bomb. He looks at it carefully. It is all metal with bizarre items on it. Some of it made no sense for being a bomb. It looks like it had some sort of gun and a periscope. The egg beater handle confuses Chuck. Chuck approaches it with caution. It looks too….weird.

"Oh my God!" said a woman's voice.

Chuck turn around to see a woman wearing a brown leather jacket. Her black hair is in a pony tail. She instantly takes out a gun and points it at the bomb. Chuck swear that he seen her before. He just did not know where. At the moment, the gun had his attention. Chuck jump back when he saw the gun.

"Who are you?" said the woman.

"What?"  
"Who are you?" command the woman.  
"I'm Chuck." said Chuck as he keeps his eyes on the gun.

"No. Who are you?"  
"You really got to be more specific about that question."  
"What I want to know is why you have a Dalek with you."

"A what?"

"Do not act dumb with me. I want to know why there is a Dalek with you."

"What is a Dalek?" ask Chuck. She looks at Chuck with suspicion. While she had her eyes on Chuck, her gun did not move away from pointing at the bomb. She looks at the man with a lot of suspicion. One thing that she did see is a lot of confusion and some fear.

"You don't know." concludes the woman.

"No, I don't know. All I know is that there is a bomb up here and you are pointing a gun at it, which I will add is a very bad idea." said Chuck.

"A bomb?"

"There is a timer on it. What else is it going to be?" point out Chuck to the woman.

"A timer?"

"Yeah."

"That can not be good."  
"That is what I said. So who are you?" ask Chuck as the mysterious woman lower her gun.  
"I am Martha Jones-Smith."  
"Nice to meet you. So what is a Dalek?"

"You would not believe me if I told you." Martha holsters her weapon.

"Try me."

"It is an alien life form bent on the destruction of all life." said Martha, figuring that the man would run away at such a bizarre statement.

Chuck look at her and then look at what he thought was a bomb.

"Yeah, that sounds so much worse then a bomb." proclaim Chuck.

"It is." confirms Martha as she slowly approaches the Dalek. "How long has it been here?"

"I don't know. Some of my employees found it on the roof. I just got back."  
"I know. I followed you."

"What? For how long?"  
"Since you got on the plane from London."  
"Holy crap! You have been following me. I knew that I have seen you somewhere." realizes Chuck.  
"Let's focus on the fact that you have a Dalek on the roof of your store." Martha looks at the Dalek. "I have to say this. The fact that we are still alive is a good thing."

"Really?"

"If this Dalek was conscious, we would be dead." said Martha as she got on her knees to look at the lower portion of the Dalek.

"Scary, that I found that to be comforting, just not by much."

"I know. Has it moved?" asks Martha as she gets up from the floor. She moves to look at the other side of the Dalek.

"Not since I have been up here."

"Alright." Martha sees the timer. "Scary thought."

"What is?"

"You are right. That is a detonator timer. Someone has turned this Dalek into a bomb."

"I told you."

"Yes, you did. A live Dalek would not have given anyone the chance to do that to it. That definitely confirms that this Dalek is dead. Now, let's pop this open."

"Pop it open."

"What you see in front of you is the outer shell of a Dalek. This whole metal casing is how it moves and destroys." explains Martha.

"You mean to tell me that that is a miniature tank for them." said Chuck.

"That is a good description."

"Oh boy." Chuck stands a distance from the Dalek. "How do you know all of this?"  
"Experience."

"OK. How do you know how to pop one open?"  
"I used to work for UNIT." The name sent a flash to Chuck's brain.

_Government's documents that has been black out._

_ Pictures of military operation in London.._

_ More government's documents blacked out._

_ A butterfly in a meadow._

Chuck places his attention back on Martha, who had her focus on the Dalek and not on Chuck.

"UNIT deals with this type of situations. They encountered some dead Daleks from the last invasion. They took them back to a bunker and tried to figure it out." continues Martha as she gets back on her knee continuing her search.

"And?"  
"Technology is too advanced for any scientist to figure out. They were only able to pop it open. Other then that, they could not figure out how it works for them."

"OK." Chuck watches Martha seemly poke at the Dalek. Without warning, a small section in the front of the Dalek starts to slide open. Martha smiles at the achievement. She get back on her feet and walks to Chuck's side. Chuck look inside of it thinking that he would see some sort of alien life. What he found instead is several different type of bizarre clay package inside of it.

"That's explosives, right." ask Chuck. Martha walks to Chuck's side and look with him at what she opened up. She had a little relief that there was not a dead life form in the Dalek's armor. She looks at the different clay packages inside of it.

"Look like it."

"Great. Do you know how to defuse a bomb?" ask Chuck.  
"Nope."

"Wonderful."  
"So, why don't you tell me why you have a Time Lord watch on you?" asks Martha as she carefully move the clay package. Chuck takes a step back after he heard the question. Chuck's heart skips a beat. He did not expect that question from her.

"I don't know what you are talking about?" lie Chuck, hoping that it was a good lie.

"You went to London to get a Time Lord watch. I saw your posting online. So, do not insult my intelligence." said Martha as she went back on her knees to get a closer look at the inside of the Dalek.

"I think right now is not a good time to ask that question."

"Chuck, I used to be a doctor. I used to lead some military operations for UNIT. When I can say that I can multi-task, I can multi task with the best of them." said Martha to prove her point.

"Oh."

"Please answer my question. Why were you looking for a Time Lord pocket watch?" ask Martha.  
"You know what a Time Lord is." said Chuck

"Yes, I do. So please answer my question."

"It's for a friend."

"A friend?" Martha turns to look at Chuck.  
"Yeah."

"OK." said Martha as she places her focus back on the bomb. She smiles as she finally sees what she was looking for. "Well, look at we have here."

"What?"

"Good news, Chuck. I found something that should not be here."

"What's that?"  
"I found a small teleportation device." answers Martha as she moves the device out of its hiding place.

"OK?"

"Daleks has their own teleportation device, but they don't use it. It drains power that can be used to destroy any life that they encounter. They use it as a last resort." explains Martha.

"Oh."

"What I found is a teleportation device that is not part of its original components."

"That is how it got up here. Whoever set up this bomb could not use the Dalek's technology to do it so they used their own." figures Chuck.

"Exactly. Now the fun part: Let's see if it is something that I have seen."

Chuck got on his knees and start looking at what Martha is looking at. Not of it made any sense, but his curiosity got the better of him. Nothing looks recognizable.

"See that small red square in the middle of the device." points Martha. Chuck sees a very small red square.

"Yeah."

"That is Sontarion technology. That is how they teleport."

"OK."

"Good news is the fact I know how it works. We can get this bomb out of here." said a relieved Martha.

"That is good news. But where are we going to put it."

"Beside the person who put this bomb together would be a perfect spot for it." reply Martha to Chuck's question.

"Can you do that?"

"As long as he has a Sontarion device with him, it can happen."

"And if he doesn't?" ask Chuck.  
"Well, I have a plan B."

"Plan B?"  
"We get UNIT involved. They will help us in removing this bomb. "

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Martha took out a laser pen from her pocket and point at the red square.

What happen did not go as she expected.

The bomb, Chuck, and Martha teleport off the roof of the Buy More.

* * *

Major Tom looks at the whole bunker living room. The sofa is cover with sweat and blood. The tables has been smashed and there are knifes on the wall. As for the agents protecting Jenny, they were still trying to get off the floor as he stands triumphantly over them. The blonde female agent is using the wall to stand herself up. The big man slams his shoulder against the wall to put it back into place. The big man slowly rises to his feet. As for the man that Major Tom sneaks up on, he is wrapping his arm with a torn shirt to stop the bleeding.

As for Jenny, her frightening eyes are still staring at the whole thing from the hallway.

"Look at them, Jenny." yells Major Tom. She looks away from them. "I SAID LOOK AT THEM!"

Jenny turns to look at her protectors.

"They still want to stop me from killing you. I mean look at the small guy. He is bleeding all over the place. Yet, he is still trying to stop it so he can stop me. How sad is that?"

"Oh, I will show you sad when I kick your butt all over the place." yells out Mickey Smith.  
"Please. What can you do?" dismiss Major Tom as he slowly approaches Jenny.  
"Give me a minute. I will show you." yell back Mickey.

"Sorry, I don't work like that. I came here only for her and that is it. This fight was just simply the cherry on the sundae." They heard a man falling down. Major Tom looks to see the man they call Casey on his knees. "It was fun, but this has to end."

"Killing a defenseless woman. Is that how you get your kicks?" yells out Mickey.

"Defenseless woman. Please. Jenny is not defenseless. If you only know what I know, you would not be defending her." Reply Major Tom.  
"Educate me then. Tell me what is so bad about her that she has to die." said Mickey as he hope that the stall tactics would work.  
"She is the man. That is what she is."  
"The man?" said a confused Mickey as he promptly secures his homemade bandage.

"You know, the man who keeps us little people down. The man that sets these rules to keep us from reaching our full potential. The person who says that everything has to happen in the way it should. That is who she is." explains Major Tom.  
"You are being too cryptic here for me. Tell it to me in plain English for us idiots that do not speak cryptic." yell out Mickey.

"Why should I? Once I kill her, none of this will matter. All the explanations in the world will no longer mean anything." said Major Tom as he places his full attention on Jenny.

Jenny turn to see Major Tom is in front of her. Her fear stops her from moving away from him. Major Tom grabs her throat and picks her up. She could feel her lungs screaming for air. He slams her against the wall.

"WALKER!" yells out John Casey. Sarah Walker is standing using the wall as support. Her first step away from the wall is disastrous as she falls forward on the ground.

"WALKER!"

"I can't move, Casey. He did something to my legs." said Agent Walker as she hears Major Tom slam Jenny against the wall again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

"MICKEY!" yells out Casey as he tries to stand.

Mickey Smith slowly gets up from the floor. He looks at his bandage arm. The bleeding is not stopping.

"You better get up, Agent Casey. I am not going to be worth much for too long." said Mickey Smith as he starts looking for a weapon.

Major Tom slams Jenny against the wall for one last time. He keeps her back against the wall as he put his face right up her face.

"Jenny. Jenny. Jenny. How I love you for so long? If only you did not have that stupid set of morals, we would have been great together. But you did, so here we are. This is where you are going to die. Just know this. I don't get any joy out of this. But I will get plenty of joy by kill those who tried to protect you. Just know with your last dying breath that their deaths are all your fault." whispers Major Tom.

Major Tom places both hands on her neck and start to squeeze.

Mickey starts to move toward them. He knows that he is moving too slow. He tries to move faster, yet his body did not do that.

"HEY! I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU!" yells out Mickey, hoping to distract Major Tom. Mickey's own fears grew as he notices that it was not working.

"YOU HEAR ME! I AM NOT DONE!" yells out Mickey. He then starts praying for a miracle.

What he got is a ray of light in the center of the bunker.

"What the hell?" said John Casey as he slowly stands up from the ground. Major Tom loosens his grip around Jenny's throat to look at the ray of light.

As the ray of light slowly dim, Major Tom's own heart sped up.

"NO" Major Tom let go of Jenny. She fell on the floor trying to catch his breath.

The light dims to reveals a metal cylinder like robot and two people. John Casey had a small smile on his face when he recognizes one of the people who appear.

"Chuck." said John.

Sarah smile when she heard John Casey. She closes her eyes with confidence in her heart that everything will be alright.

Mickey smile for a different reason. He sees the second person.

"Martha Jones."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

When the light subsided, Chuck runs off to the side. He did not bother to look where he was going and he did not care. He got on his hands and knees and vomit.

Once he was done, he shakes his head and spit out the taste out of his mouth.

"I can't believe that Star Trek lied to me." said Chuck and he starts to look around at his surrounding.

"YOU!" yells out a voice. He places his attention on the voice to see an angry Major Tom. Major Tom turns his back on Jenny and places his entire attention on Chuck. Major Tom has his hand around his sword.

"Great." Chuck closes his eye and flashes. " I teleported in front of an angry man with a sword that wants to kill me."

Major Tom start running toward Chuck as he takes out his sword, completely ignoring Martha and his bomb. Chuck gets up from the floor and gets into a defensive position. He places his complete focus on the terrorist.

Unlike Chuck, Martha looks at the surrounding. The whole area looks like a bad night at a pub. There are broken chairs and tables. There are people collapsed on the floor. What grabbed her attention is her husband collapsing on the floor. She runs toward her husband.

"I leave you alone for a few days and looks what happened to you." said Martha as she gets down on her knees to examine her husband.  
"I know. I am a mess without you." reply Mickey with a smile. Martha removes the awful makeshift bandage on Mickey's arm. Once she saw the bleeding, Martha reaches inside her coat pocket and takes out a clean cloth. She cleans the cuts.

"What happened?" ask Martha.  
"The guy with the sword." points Mickey at the fight that is happening in front of the couple. Martha turns to see Chuck and Major Tom exchanging blows. Whatever happened, Chuck made Major Tom drop his sword. "That is Major Tom. He pretty much jumped us. We have been trying to stop him since he got here."  
"Not doing so well." remarks Martha as she places her focus back on her husband and places the bloody cloth on her shoulder.

"Nope. He did something to the other two agents. They can't seem to get on their feet." said Mickey. Martha takes out a small tube from her pocket.

"Well, this Aleforian gel that I am apply on your cut will stop the bleeding." said Martha as she starts to apply the orange colored gel on Mickey's arm.

"How long?" ask Mickey.  
"Just stay here for four minutes."

"I hope we have that much time." said Mickey.

"Worse case, wait for two minutes before getting back into the fight. By then, I should have looked at the others." said Martha as she put the small tube back into her pocket.

"Yes, sweetheart. Just one question."

"Sure."  
"Why is there a Dalek here and why are we still alive?" ask Mickey as he point out the Dalek.  
"Sweetheart, the Dalek is dead. The only problem is the fact that the Dalek is now a bomb." said Martha with a weary smile.  
"Still not good."

"No, it is not."

"Another question, who is the bloke?"  
"That is Chuck. He is the one that was looking for the watch." reply Martha. "And the one who found it."

"Great. So, is he a good guy?" ask Mickey.

"Seems like it." The couple looks at the fight and watches as Chuck place a kick on Major Tom's chest. Major Tom simply falls back on the floor. "Considering that the guy with the big sword seems to hate him. I am going to say yes."

"Good. Help the others, I will be alright."

"I doubt that." Martha takes out her gun and gives it to her husband. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Me? Do anything stupid. Perish the thought." said Mickey with a smile as he takes the gun from Martha's hand. Martha shook her head and looks at the fight that is still going on.

Major Tom is now getting up from the floor with a murderous look on his face. Martha looks at the other agents on the floor. With Major Tom completely focus on Chuck, she runs toward John Casey.

"Who the hell are you?" said John Casey as she approach John Casey.

"Martha Jones-Smith. I am the wife of Mickey." reply Martha as she examines John.

"How did that happen?"  
"Excuse me?"

"No offense, but you are way prettier than he deserves." said John.  
"Thank you. We just happen to have the same circle of friends." Said Martha as she look straight into John Casey's eyes

"Still. How did that happen?" ask John Casey the same question. Martha gives him a courtesy smile.

"Let's focus on the problem at hand. Let me see your tongue."

"Why?"  
"I have a hunch, considering that you can't get up and your eyes are diluted. So let me see your tongue." said Martha as John opens up his mouth and stick out his tongue. Martha could see a blue tint on the tongue.  
"Great. Your tongue is slight blue. That is not a good sign." said Martha she reaches inside her coat pocket.

"What's wrong?"

"Major Tom has drugged you. I will not get into the details of it, but that is the reason why you can't get up." said Martha as she pulls out a pill. "Here take this."

John Casey takes the pill and put in his mouth. He swallows the pill.

"What is it?"  
"It is the antidote. It will counteract the poison that Major Tom gave you. You will be fine in an hour."

"We don't have that much time." said John.

"Have a little hope." Martha looks back at the fight between Chuck and Major Tom. Chuck is blocking the punches from Major Tom with his hands.

"Stay here." said Martha to John Casey. She starts to run toward the agent who is lying on the floor.

Martha moves Agent Sarah Walker on her back. There is a smile on her face.

"Can you hear me?" ask Martha figuring she would get no reply.

"Chuck." whispers Sarah.  
"I am going to open your mouth and look at your tongue. OK?" Martha opens the woman's mouth and look at the slightly blue tongue. She takes out a pill and places it on the tongue and shut her mouth. "Can you swallow?"

Sarah swallows the pill.

"Good."  
"Chuck is here. Everything will be alright." said Sarah. Martha looks back at the fight as she sees Major Tom slam his head on Chuck's nose.

"Hope you are right." said Martha as she start looking at the area. She see a woman sitting on the floor leaning against the smashed up wall. Her hair is covering her face. Martha runs toward the woman.

Martha bent down to get a closer look at the fallen woman. She moves the hair away from the woman's face to get a better look at her woman. Martha's own heart stop when she saw the face.

"No."

Martha gets up on her feet.

"You should be dead." said Martha as she looks at Jenny, who is still trying to catch her breath.

Her mind races back to past conversation.

"_It is a Time Lord watch." repeats Martha.  
"Before I start to freak out a bit, explain." asks Mickey Smith._

"_It is a watch that Time Lord has. In case of extreme emergencies, they can transfer their essence into that watch." explain Martha. _

"_Please answer my question. Why were you looking for a Time Lord pocket watch?" ask Martha to Chuck.  
"You know what a Time Lord is." Reply Chuck._

_ "Yes, I do. So please answer my question."_

_ "It's for a friend." Answer Chuck._

"The pocket watch. It's your watch. I always thought it was for your father's, but its yours." said Martha as she looks down at the Doctor's daughter. She bends down and felt Jenny's chest. There is only one heart.

She turns and looks at the fight. Major Tom has slam Chuck's body onto the wall.

"MICKEY! TIME'S UP!" yells out Martha as she takes off her coat. Mickey gets up from the floor. His smile is gone. He starts to look for an opening.

"Why? Why me? I'm just a teacher. I am no one special" said Jenny. Martha gets up from the floor and looks at Jenny.

"You are so wrong." answers Martha. Jenny looks at Martha with some confusion in her eye. "You are the most important person in this universe. Don't ever think such a thing again."

"OK." answers Jenny, not knowing why she believes in Martha.

"Stay here." said Martha. She turns and looks back at the fight. She takes a deep breath and focus on the fight. MICKEY! GET IN THERE."

Mickey start to run into the fight himself as Martha start walking toward the fight.

Major Tom turns to see Mickey running toward him. He tosses Chuck aside. Chuck is flung toward Martha. No way in avoiding it, they collide with each other. Mickey on the other hand is able to tackle Major Tom onto the ground.

Chuck slowly gets off of Martha.

"Sorry." said Chuck as he gives his hand to Martha.

"Don't worry about me. Do you have the watch?" asks Martha as she gets up from the floor.  
"What?"  
"THE WATCH! Do you have it on you?" asks Martha.  
"Yeah."

"Give it to Jenny!" Martha point to Jenny, who is slowly get up from the floor. "She is still human, Chuck. She has to open the watch to become a Time Lord."  
Chuck look at Martha with some hesitation. He then runs toward Jenny. Martha did not know why but she watches the scene open up before her.

"Hey." said Chuck as he extends his hand to lift Jenny off the ground.

"Chuck." smile Jenny as she sees Chuck. She takes his hand and get up from the floor.

"How are you doing?"

"Horrible."  
"Got something for you." Said Chuck as he reaches inside his pocket and takes out the pocket watch.

"A pocket watch?" said a confused Jenny. Even though it looks old and ugly, Jenny starts to stare at it.

"Yeah, it's yours." answer Chuck.

"I never had a pocketwatch."  
"You did. You just simply lost it."

"Why do I need it now?"

"Open it and find out." said a hopeful Chuck.  
Chuck put the watch in her hand. Jenny simply stares at it for a minute. Her eyes are fixed onto the watch as if nothing else matter. She could hear a female voice in her head.

_"Hello Dad." _Jenny recognizes the voice. It was her voice speaking to her. She could see images flashing in her mind.

_ "You keep insisting you're not a soldier but look at you, drawing up strategies like a proper general."_

_ "Oh, I've got the whole universe. Planets to save, civilizations to rescue, creatures to defeat and an awful lot of running to do."_

Without realizing what she was doing, she then opens up the watch.

The watch release a bright light. What she did not see is the fact that the light is going into her eyes.

_Beep._ It is a quiet beep that no one could hear since everyone's attention is on other things.

Chuck step back from Jenny in awe.

Martha hold her breath as the stream of light go into Jenny's eyes.

John Casey looks on with confusion.

_Beep._

"NO!" yells out Major Tom. He caught a glimpse of what is happening. He knows what is now happening. "I AM NOT GOING TO LOSE TO YOU AGAIN!"

Major Tom slams his fist into Mickey's stomach. He grabs Mickey by the throat and flung Mickey onto the floor. There is a gun lying on the floor. He grabs a gun that lies on the floor.

_Beep. _

"YOU AND YOUR KIND ARE GONE. YOU DON'T GET A SECOND CHANCE TO COME BACK! I WOULDN'T ALLOW IT!" yells out the crazed terrorist. He turns and points the gun at Jenny.

"CHUCK, HE GOT A GUN!" yell out John Casey to his partner.

Chuck turn to see Major Tom with the gun in his hand. He turns to see Jenny's whole body glowing in golden light.

Chuck sees where the gun is pointing at. He did the only thing he could think of. He steps in front of Jenny. For a moment they stare at each other. Then Jenny smiles at him.

Major Tom then fires at Chuck.

Chuck could feel the blast from the gun. Fear engulfs him as he realizes that he screwed up. He is not wearing a vest. He could feel the bullet in him and he is now scared. He looks at Jenny, who is still smiling at him. What she did next was something that he did not expect. Jenny hugs the secret agent.

_Beep._

What no one could hear is the final beep and the meaning behind the beeping.

A portal opens up from behind Chuck and Jenny. Major Tom recognizes the portal as being a portal into the time vortex. He looks at his Time Converter watch. It was the thing that had been beeping. He looks back at Jenny and Chuck. The portal swallows the two up and they vanish.

"No." said Major Tom. "NO!"

Major Tom rush to where Chuck and Jenny were standing at.

"Not again. You clever, little witch." The venom could be heard in his voice. "You think you are so clever. Using my own Time converter against me. You think that is going to help you. No. It is not going to help you. Not if I change everything. Not if I break every scared rule out there. Not if I do the impossible. You know what they say. Don't like how the game is coming out; just break every rule out there."

Major Tom looks down at his watch and press a couple of buttons. He looks up to see Martha stare at him.

"All I have to do is simply throw the game board onto the ground." Major Tom smile at the thought as he and his Dalek bomb disappears.

Martha simply stares at the air wondering what is going to happen next.


	16. Chapter 16

Intermission/Reactions

Morgan looks at the Castle. It is quiet and empty. After three hours of Chuck and the bomb's disappearance, all Morgan had to show for any effort in his search for his best friend is nothing.

It did not help Morgan that he got a video playback on how Chuck disappeared. A mysterious woman pointed a gun at his best friend. She then placed her focus on the mysterious bomb on top of the Buy More. What made everyone nearly fainted was the fact that Chuck, the mysterious woman, and the bomb disappeared. Everyone who was watching the feed simply freaked out a bit. Most of the recruits went to the Buy Mores' roof to make sure that the bomb and Chuck were not there. After they got their disbelief confirmed, they came back to the Castle with disappointment on their faces. They tried to go back on their assignments, but Morgan recognized the look on their faces. They were getting pile on. Things are not going their way and they had no idea how to make it go their way. Morgan finally told them to go home. The scary part was the fact that they listened to him.

Morgan looks around the Castle, getting ready to secure the area before he can go home. There is nothing that he can do. How can you look for someone who has disappeared? Considering that he did not have the training that the recruits have, it would be impossible. Morgan looks around the Castle while thinking what else he can do. When he came up with nothing, Morgan starts to walk up the stairs. Morgan hears a beep as he take his first step on the stairs. He looks at the source of the sound. There is an email icon on the big computer screen with his name on it.

"Well, that's weird." He step off the stairs and goes to the computer. "Might as well see what it could be."

Morgan walk up to the keyboard and clicks on the icon. The computer reveal video clip. It starts to play as Chuck sit down on the screen.

"Hey, buddy. If you are watching this, then everything went straight to h-e- double hockey sticks. Something has happened to me and only you can help."

"No way." said Morgan as he sits down on his seat.

"Morgan. You have to accept that everything that I tell you is the truth. It may seem a little out there, but it is the truth. The only reason why I haven't told you is that it is too hard to believe. Heck, I am still trying to believe it. You need to know who Jenny Carmichael really is. You see, I know who she really is. I always have." said Chuck as he stares into the camera.  
"Oh boy." said Morgan as he holds onto the chair.

"Jenny Carmichael is really an alien." proclaim Chuck.

"What?" said Morgan in disbelief.

"It is very hard for me to explain so I will keep this as short as possible so you can understand why I have been trying to protect her and why I have been looking for a pocket watch in England and how I really know her."

"Oh, Chuck. Buddy, what did you get yourself into?" ask Morgan, knowing that there would be no answer.

* * *

"Well, your friend is resting now. She is not too badly hurt. I treated her wounds." said Martha as she walks into the kitchen. Mickey and John Casey are sitting by a wooden table. A Fifth of Jack and three empty glasses are beside John Casey.

"Good. Now, can someone tell me what just happened to Chuck?" ask John. Martha and Mickey look at each other. John has seen this before.

"Sure. But I have to forewarn you. It may be too much." said Martha as she take a seat. "I can tell you right now, it is a bit too much for me."

"Look, I am a NSA agent. I have done things and seen things. There is very little that I can't handle." reaffirm John to the couple.

"Alright. You have to accept this fact. If you can't accept this fact, then everything that I tell you will not mean a thing." said Martha.

"What is it?"

"Aliens are real." said Martha.

John looks at Martha's eyes. He then looks at Mickey's eyes. He simply nods as to confirm what Martha just said. He looks into their eyes as if he was looking for doubt or madness. When he did not find what he is looking for, John pour a shot of Jack and drink it.

"Fine. Aliens are real." said John out loud as if he simply accepts what Martha just told him.

"Aliens are real and a lot of them are more advances than most people on this planet. Most people find this a hard concept to grasp. They have better weapons, they have teleportation devices. They have spaceship…" explain Martha.  
"I get it. We are a bunch of cavemen compared to them."

"That being said, our planet seems to attract them. Do not know why, but it does. Some aliens come in peace while others try to use it for their own gain."

"Like experimenting on cows?" said John jokingly.

"If we are lucky. When they are bad, they are bad. We are talking about world conquest bad."

"Fine. There are good aliens and bad aliens. Move on." said John.  
"Like I said, their technology is superior then our. Some time in the future, it will take a huge leap. The ability to travel through time will be developed."

"You are kidding." said John Casey as he eyes the bottle again.  
"No. What just happened here to your friend is exactly that. Your friend is going though time as we speak." said Martha.

John looks at Martha and Mickey. He stops resisting, pours another shot and drinks it.

"Let just say that I accept your explanation that Chuck is traveling though time. What does this have to do with the girl and Major Tom." ask John.  
"Major Tom's watch. You remember how he used it to disappear. He did not teleported. He went through time. His watch is how he does it. That is exactly how Chuck and Jenny disappeared too. Something must have happened that we do not know to cause the watch to come on and send those two back in time. If I was a betting woman, I place my bets on Jenny. She is a Time Lord." deducts Martha.

"Sweetheart. Let's stop there for a moment." interrupt Mickey.

"Mickey."

"No. Let me get this off of my chest. How do you know that the girl is a Time Lord? The Doctor said that he was the last of his kind and you said that the Master is dead." asks a puzzled Mickey.  
"Who in the hell is the Doctor and The Master?" ask John as he try to keep up the conversation.

"Master is a bad guy. The Doctor is a friend that we used to know." explains Mickey.  
"John, The Time Lords are an alien race that had technology that would surpass almost all the alien races for centuries. They are also extinct. They had a war that pretty much wiped them out of existence. The only survivor of that war is a friend who we call the Doctor." answers Martha.  
"Ok." acknowledge John.

"As for your question, Mickey, that is complicated."

"Then simplify for me." said Mickey. Martha looks at Mickey and takes a deep breath.

"Jenny is the Doctor's daughter." said Martha.  
Mickey looks at his wife. For a long time, he searches for it. When he did not get what he hopes for, he grab John's bottle of Jack and took a drink out of it. He places the bottle down and looks at his wife again.

"You have to be kidding me." said Mickey.

"No, I am not."  
"How did that happened?"

"It happened when the Doctor was with the Donna."  
"He did not?" assume Mickey.

"NO! Let me explain. Remember the Sontaran invasion. It happened right after that. I got stuck in the TARDIS. The TARDIS sent the Doctor, Donna and myself into the future on a planet that had a civil war. One thing that they had was a Progenation device.  
"That is?" ask Mickey.

"It takes the DNA of an individual, clones another person based on the DNA, increased the speed of growth while the machine implants military knowledge in the clone to create a fully form soldier." explains Martha.

"No way." said Mickey.

"Yes."  
"Are you telling me that the Doctor got caught and they used his DNA to create a soldier?" deducts Mickey.

"Yes. That soldier is Jenny."

"You mean the blonde girl that we all have been trying to protect?" asks John.

"Yes."

"Wow." said Mickey as he pours another drink for himself.  
"You have no idea. Mickey, she got shot." said Martha as Mickey drinks his Jack Daniels.

"Shot? So?"

"She died in the Doctor's arms. She did not even get a chance to regenerate. I even confirmed it. Both of her hearts stop beating. She is supposed to be dead."

"Oh." Mickey drinks the Jack Daniels that he pours himself. Martha takes a glass and slides it toward her husband. Mickey pours a drink for his wife.

"Yeah."

"Then how can she be alive right now?" ask Mickey.  
"I don't know." Martha drinks her glass.

"Care to feel me in. I feel like I am lost here." Chime in John.

"Jenny's is an alien and technically she is not supposed to be alive." said Martha as she slide the glasses back to her husband.

"Are you sure about that?" ask John.

"Yes."  
"So you did an autopsy on her?" question John.  
"No."

"Then you are not sure."  
"The Doctor…"

"I don't care. In my line of work, there have been too many people that have come back from the dead. Trust me on that. It has happened to me too many times. Unless you did an autopsy on them, then you are not sure that they were dead. Beside, if she is an alien, how do you know that she did not heal up after you were gone? How do you know that she did not go into some sort of hibernation to heal her wound?" ask John. Martha looks at the agent as she process John Casey's question.

"I don't know." said Martha.

"Exactly."

"The Doctor told me that she died and he is the same species as she is." explains Martha.  
"Maybe he lied or maybe he is not a good of an expert that you think he is."

"Trust me when I say this: He is." said Martha with conviction.

"Fine. One question: Has he ever made a mistake?"

"Rarely."

"But he has. That is the point. If she is his daughter, he would have been in grief and may have missed something. I really doubt that he may have done it on purpose. " Point out John.

"If you knew my friend."  
"Again. Don't care. The fact is still this: Your friend's daughter is alive." said John. "She is with my friend. What can we do to help them?"

"Nothing. There is nothing on this planet that can help your friend. At this moment, the best place that your friend can be is with her." said Martha.

"The only question is how does your friend know her." Ask Mickey.  
"What?" said John.

"What makes your friend so special that he knows something that we don't. Who is he really?" asks Mickey.

"My friend used to be….correction is a CIA agent. He is like Walker and me. My friend is a spy. Before you ask, he is damn good at what he does. That female Time gal is damn lucky that he is with her." answers John Casey.

"Fine. The question again is how does your friend know Jenny?" ask Martha.

John Casey simply processes the question.

"Your friend posted a picture of a Time Lord pocket watch on the internet. How did he get the picture of that watch? Before you ask, that pocket watch is important to Time Lords and unique for each Time Lord. Now we know that the watch is not the Doctor, but Jenny's. Chuck was looking for the watch for her. It means that he knew who she was this whole time. How does your friend know her?" ask Martha again as she explain her reasoning.

"I don't know." answer John as he pours another drink.

* * *

"I met Jenny in a coffee shop. She came in looking for space ship parts. Obviously she did not find it. But she did find me. She took one look at me and knew the most important secret that I had at that time: I had the Intersect in my head. It freaked me out because the only one that knew at that time was Sarah and John. Anyway, I did not think about it much after that because I ran out, hoping never to see her again. Of course, she came up on a mission. The mission was to gather information of a weapon dealer. Short of it is that I got captured and somehow she got captured. She freed me. We went looking for the weapons and found a way out.

"She was able to get out in time, but I got captured again. I was being used as bargaining chip for the weapon dealer's freedom. Thankfully, Casey and Sarah were the ones he was dealing with. Fight ensued and he tried to get away. Jenny stopped him with her spaceship.

"Yes, Morgan. I did say spaceship.

"There you have it. We had lunch and then she left. I never saw her again until a few days ago. I guess the whole point of the story is the fact that she is an alien that trusted me and I trusted her. I only kept it a secret because even I think it sounds weird. Of course, if the government found out, well we both seen Independence Day. Like I said, if you got this message, it means something has happened and you need to protect her. She may be our only hope in stopping Major Tom." explain Chuck.

Morgan look at the message as the screen went black. His mouth is still on the floor.

"Oh my God!" Morgan gets up from his chair. "Chuck met an alien. That is so amazing. I can't believe this."

Concern soon swept up Morgan's spine.

"But if I got this message, then what happened to Chuck?" said Morgan fearing the worst now.

* * *

Chuck opens his eyes and look at the white ceiling. He wonders if that is an actual white color or some sort of crème color. After trying to help Ellie and Devon to choose over paints, it is the only reason that he thought of such a thing.

Chuck takes a second to orient himself to his surroundings. Since he is lying on something soft and is covered with the softest sheet that he has ever been covered in, he could only assume that he is lying in bed in some hotel.

He slowly rises from the bed and look around. It is a pretty typical bed room. There are drawers, two chairs with a robe hanging from one. He starts to stretch. He could hear some pop from his body. He starts to get out of bed.

With the room being slightly chilling, Chuck realize why there is a robe hanging from the chair.

He walks over and put it on. He looks around and found slippers off the side of the bed. Chuck walks over and put them on.

Chuck look around the room. Nothing suspicious. He opens the drawers, hoping to find clothes. His hope did not come true. He walks over to the curtain, hoping to see where he could be. Chuck pray that he is in Paris.

Chuck opens the curtains to see stars and a big red planet with rings surrounding it.

He stares at it for the beauty until the realization hit him.

"I am in space." proclaim Chuck.

Those words were the last thing he said as he faints onto the floor.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"So, you are telling me that Chuck is getting back in the spy business." ask Devon "Captain Awesome" Wilcomb to his loving wife, Ellie.

Devon and Ellie is sitting at their dinner table eating scramble eggs, toast with butter, a bowl of fruit, and milk. Today is the off day. Devon had reserved a day where he eats whatever he wants. While Devon did eat sensible even on the off days, Ellie looks forward to this day. It meant no exercises; eat the food that she misses, and a lot of television. She smiles at the thought of having a hamburger, chili fries and a chocolate milkshake for lunch.

The newlyweds are still in their pajamas, not exercise shorts. Ellie is wearing purple sleepwear while her husband is wearing his old college shirt and shorts.

"Yes. The only difference is the fact that now I am aware of it." reply Ellie as she devour a piece of her toast, which is covers with grape jelly. Devon is eating his fruit salad with a glass of milk.

"Aren't you worried about your brother?" ask Devon as he take a drink from his glass of milk.  
"Devon, my brother is many things, but he is not stupid. He has actual experience in doing this sort of thing. He has John Casey and Sarah, both agents. Let's not even get into the fact that he has that Intersect thingy in his head. So you ask me if I am worried about my brother." Devon waits for his wife to answer the question with a little apprehension. "Of course I am going to be worry about my brother. He could get killed. But, this is a dangerous situation, but I don't want to live my life in fear. My father tried to protect us from some dangerous people. I don't who, but I want to know who they are. If they want to come after us now, they can. The only reason that they haven't was because of my father. Now that he is gone, what will stop them from coming after us?"

"I guess nothing." reply Devon.  
"Exactly. With Casey and Sarah, we can get some protection."

"But…"

"But they can't protect us all the time and they can't stop something that they don't see coming. Let's not even get into the fact that they could get assignments outside of the city. We need to figure out what is out there that would make us lose our dad for so many years." said Ellie as she looks down on her plate, wondering why she did not make any waffles.

Both individuals sit on their chairs looking at each other.  
"I don't like it, Ellie." said Devon as he takes another bite from his salad.

"I don't like it, either. We can't always wonder when the bad thing is going to happen. I rather have my brother try to figure out what is going on and have help then to do nothing at all." answers Ellie as she scoops up some eggs on her fork.

"What about this girl whose send over that video to your dad? What's her story" ask Devon. Ellie look at her husband, trying to figure out what she should tell her husband.

"Chuck vouched for her. She said that she needed help and she was looking for my father for it. Since Chuck knows who she is, he figured that he should help her."  
"What is your part in all of this?" ask Devon the question that had been on his mind the whole time.  
"Our part is just being the supportive family."

"That's it." Devon is a little surprised by this development. The fact of the matter is the fact that he knew better. His own little adventure of being a spy gave him a little insight to know that it could not be true.

"For now." answer Ellie.

"Well, I hope your brother does not get into over his head." said Devon.

"I hope he doesn't." Ellie look at her eggs wondering where her brother is at.

* * *

Chuck gets up from the floor rubbing his head.

"I really should be used to fainting." Said Chuck to no one in particular. He looks out the window to see only stars. He sighs a bit. It is a beautiful sight that he never thought he would actually see. He simply stares at the window, hoping that this can't be a dream. While the view is nice, Chuck wonders what could happen, where is he and how.

Since his mind did not give him any flash of information, Intersect or his imagination, Chuck gets up from the floor and walks toward the door and opens it. Chuck sticks his head out the door. He looks down the hall. There are several people walking down the hall wearing robes. He smiles at the reassurances that he will not be the only person walking around wearing a robe.

Since he was in Rome… Chuck walk out the room, closes his door and starts walking down the halls. When he passes by a really short purple man, Chuck starts to wonder again if he was in a dream. After all, he only dreams of purple men in his dream. Even then, they were carry light saber and fighting the Empire. The purple man slowly went out of his mind as he passes by a tall insect like man. The man had antennas on his head and an appearance of hard armor skin. Chuck did not bother staring at the man, figuring it is part of a dream and that he is still lying on the floor. As he finally gets to the end of the hall, he finds himself walking a dining hall.

The dining hall is big and screams expensive. He sees long marble floor tiles. The tables are covered with expensive linen. Chuck sees that there are paintings on the wall. There are waiters, whose uniforms are tuxedos, carrying trays of food. He looks up at ceiling to see it is made of glass or if it had a mural. What he saw and expected are two different things.

He could see the stars. Chuck braces himself against the wall.

"Just breath, Chuck." said Chuck to himself as he takes deep breaths. The sight of the stars still takes his breath away. It is the stars that capture his imagination. It is why Chuck got a telescope when he earns enough money.

He looks up and sees something another thing. He could see a planet moving. It is moving quicker than the stars. Chuck really looks at the scene. He notices something that scares him a bit.

"Beautiful, isn't it." Chuck turn to see an older man beside him. The older man is wearing a tuxedo like the waiters. He has lost his hair on his head and only has a ring of salt and pepper hair beard. He has a well maintain moustache. He also has a smile on his face.

"Yeah. But to make sure that I am not insane, but that is a black hole that I am seeing." asks Chuck as he point out the black space.

"Yes, sir."

"Wow."

Both men continue to look at the ceiling to observe the black hole.

"First time seeing a black hole." ask the older man.

"Yes, it is."  
"Well. You are probably one of the few fortunate individuals. Nothing like seeing something for the first time especially in outer space. Most people here are not impresses by nature. They are so focus on to themselves that they fail to see the beauty that is outside their windows." said the older man.

"It is beautiful. I am surprise most people are not watching it." remark Chuck.

"Well, we are on a luxury cruiser. Most people feel that the amenities are worth more to their time." remark the older man.

"No offense, but a spa cannot compete with the view that I am looking at right now." said Chuck as he continue to look at the scene.

Chuck looks away from the sight and look at the man. "This is my seventh time looking at the black hole and it still takes my breath away."

"How come it is not pulling us in?" ask Chuck.

"The glass is special magnifying glass. It allows us to see the black hole from a safe distance away from it. As long as we don't stay in the vicinity too long, we will be safe."

Chuck look back up at the sight. He just got a lot of information from the older man. Chuck figured that he is in outer space on a luxury cruiser for the rich. This dream is becoming very detail.  
"I must have been asleep when you announce this, but where are we going?" ask Chuck.

"We are going to the space station, Ithaca. That is where we are going to refuel and head to our actual destination of Cancun." answer the older man.

"Cancun?" said Chuck, considering that he did not expect to hear Cancun in a conversation.

"Yes. It is a wonderful planet filled with beautiful beach, mountains, and purple skies. And the people are so friendly that they do not mind taking your money." said the man. Chuck could not help but smile at the joke.  
"Of course, they don't mind."

For a minute, both men resume looking at the black hole.

"Is that a planet right in front of the black hole?" ask Chuck.

"Yes, sir. That used to been the planet, Ortydisa." It was a home planet to a species long time ago. They had the wonderful foresight to see that the condition in their space being very favorable for a black hole. They long have since evacuated the planet. All there is on the planet is just simply dirt."

"Wow."

"Yep. Soon it will be suck into the black hole."

"I think I need a seat." said Chuck.

"Good thing that I am here. It is my job to escort you to your table." said the older man.

Chuck look back at his surrounding. The older man led Chuck to a table. He pulls up a chair. Chuck simply sits down on it.

"My name is William and I will be your waiter. What can I get for you?" said the older man as he place a menu in front of Chuck.  
"Water is fine."

"Good choice." The man left Chuck alone at his table.

He looks around at the area, still wondering how he could dream up such a scene. There are humans and bizarre looking creatures. Chuck did not stare anyone in particular. As his sister said, it was not polite to stare at people.

The older man place a glass of water in front of Chuck.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. Now what would you like to eat?" ask William.  
"What is the special?"

"Well, we are still serving breakfast at this moment…"

"Pancakes." reply Chuck without any hesitation.

"What kind, sir?"

"What would you recommendation?"

"If I must recommend something, I would go with the Systheberry pancakes. They are very sweet and you would not need any syrup." explain William.  
"I'll take it."

"Good choice, sir. Will you be dining alone or are you expecting someone?"

"He'll be dining with me." reply a female voice.

Chuck and William turn to the voice that startled both men. They look up to see the blonde Time Lord known as Jenny standing in front of him. She is wearing what he actually remembering her in: The dark pants and dark military green shirt. Her hair is no longer loose, but in a ponytail. She is however wearing a dark black leather jacket. Of course, she has a big smile on her face.

"I did not even hear you approach us." said William.

"I am a little sneaky. Do not worry about it. No one would have." said Jenny with a smile. "Hi, my name is Jenny."

Jenny extends her hand.

"William." answer the waiter as he shakes Jenny's hand.  
"Good name."

"Thank you." said the man as he shakes Jenny's hand. "Is there anything that you would like?"

"Everything on the menu." reply Jenny as she takes a seat.  
"Excuse me?" ask William as he wants to be sure that he heard her correctly.  
"I would like to have everything that is on the breakfast menu. I am famished at this moment." reiterate Jenny.

"As for your drink?" ask William wondering where all this food will go.

"The same. I would like one of every drink." The man turns to Chuck.

"Your friend is something else." remarks William as he takes the menus away.

"Yes, she is." The older man walks away leaving Chuck and Jenny alone for the first time.

"Charles Irving Bartowski." said Jenny with a big smile.

"Jenny."  
"How are you?" ask Jenny

"Doing fine for a dream."

"You think you are dreaming." Said Jenny as her smile grew a little bit bigger.

"I have to be." said an unsure Chuck.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"You are not dreaming."

"What?" said Chuck as he felt his bubble being burst.

"Charles. You are not dreaming. You are on the luxury cruiser in the 55th century heading toward the space station called Ithaca." said Jenny.

Chuck stares at her for a moment. He starts looking around the area. He looks at a couple eating some sort of Jell-O. He sees individuals that look like raccoons eating their plates of food that look like….something that Morgan had eaten on a dare. He looks up at the ceiling to look at the scene of the black hole. He places his focus back on Jenny, who is still smiling.  
"How did I get here?" ask Chuck as he accept the fact that the dream theory is a bust.

"It is a long story."

"I have time."

"I guess you do. Well it happen on my last encounter with the man you know as Major Tom. After he captured me, I was forced to fix his Time Converter. It is that watch that he constantly wears. It allows him to travel through time. Well, I did fix it but I did some other modifications that he did not know about it. If I was ever in his presence again, it would activate and open up a gateway in order for me to escape."

"Clever." remark Chuck.

"I did not know what was going to happen at the time. I just had to make sure that I had a way out that he could not figure out. Good thing about Time Converters is the fact that they are very unreliable. There is no way he can find out where it sends me. So, that is why we are here. When I turn back to a Time Lord, the watch activated and opened up the escape route. You got shot, so I took you with me in order to get you help." explain Jenny

"So, this is real."

"Yes, it is."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Although, I did promise you that I would." Remind Jenny to Chuck.

"Promise."

"Remember. I did say that the next time that I saw you, I would take you with me." remind Jenny.

"I remember that."

"Good." Jenny looks off to the side. "Now, here comes our breakfast. Let's eat."

The series of waiters start putting down the food on the table. Chuck's eyes grew bigger with each plate being laid on the table.

"Sir." said William to Chuck.

"Yes."  
"Your breakfast is not ready yet. He is still trying to figure out how to make pancakes." explain an embarrass William.  
"Oh." Chuck look at the meal being laid out. "So, all of this is her?"  
"Yes, sir. Except the pancakes of course. We will bring that out for the two of you."  
"This should be interesting." said Chuck as he watch the waiters bring in another table to put the extra food on.

Chuck lean back in his chair and watch as the Time Lord named Jenny start dipping waffles in salsa.

* * *

"What about Chuck?" ask Morgan on the telephone.

It is the morning after and Morgan did not like how he is feeling. The video still worry the best friend. After he watched it, Morgan deleted it and went home. He did not get much sleep considering that the video gave him bad thoughts. Since he did not get much sleep, Morgan Grimes was the first person back at Castle. The recruits, each one wearing the Buy More uniform, slowly came back to Castle. When they got a phone call from John Casey, each one of them perked up a bit.

"Morgan. I don't know what is going on, but I can say this. Chuck is fine. He took over the mission in watching over the girl. Where did they go? I don't know." Morgan did not like the tone. It felt too fake.

"Are you sure?" ask Morgan hoping for the truth.

"Look. Chuck's on a mission and he wouldn't be there at the Buy More. Sarah and I wouldn't be back until tomorrow. She is in no condition to be move at this moment." Explain John.

"But Chuck's message to me…" Morgan did mention about the video. He just simply left out the part that Jenny Carmichael is an alien.

"He probably forgot to stop the message from being sent out."

"And our research…" ask Jesse, who felt her eyes screaming at her.

"Nothing that can be proven. We are not in the job to add speculation." said John Casey.

Everyone start to look down at the floor in a little disappointment.

"Look. We are off the mission. Chuck is the one on it at the moment. He is a good agent. All of you would be lucky if you are half the agent that he is. So, when I say that, I mean it. Do I make myself clear?" said John Casey. This time, Morgan can tell that John was not faking it now.

"Yes, sir." said the recruits.

"Morgan?"

"Alright. I am only agreeing to this because I have faith in Chuck."  
"Good. At this moment, there is nothing we can do. Everyone there just stand down. Go about the day like it is any other day. Morgan. You are in charge. Do I make myself clear?"  
"Yes, sir." Answer the recruits.  
"Good." With that, John Casey hangs up the phone, leaving everyone alone.

"This sucks." said Jesse.

"Hey." said Morgan. Everyone look at Morgan with frustration. "OK, I can't deny. I hate it."  
"We did all of this work for nothing." said Tiffany.

"Yeah. What do we even have to show for it?" agree Jake, hoping that his agreement would put him on Tiffany's good side.

"Well, we do know that there is a proven connection between Major Tom and Jenny." said Jesse. Everyone look at her with curiosity.

"Since we are not on this case, it would be silly not to share this information with the rest of us." said Morgan.

"Wouldn't it be silly to share since we are off the case?" ask Jake.  
"I meant what I said." answer Morgan. "Ignore Jake. What did you find out?"  
"Well. I look at all sightings that Jenny made, even the ones that we have no explanation of. I did what Chuck said and look at the places that she was sighted. What I found is that there is a correlation. Chuck was right. There is no human connection between the two. There is a location connection. Major Tom was sighted at some of the locations that Jenny was at."

"You said some. Any place in particular?" ask William.

"Any place that would be considered romantic." answers Jesse.

"Excuse me?" ask Tiffany.

"He was sighted at Niagara Falls, Paris, Las Vegas, and Hawaii." answers Jesse.

"That is just weird." said Tiffany.

"It is a tend bit creepy." said Jake.

"Oh my god. He's a stalker." yells out Morgan. Everyone look at Morgan. "It makes perfect sense."

"I'm sorry. You lost us there." answer Jake.

"Seriously, you guys don't see it." The recruits shake their head in reply. "How can you not see it?"

"Because we are not stalkers." answer Tiffany, who is getting a little worried at who is now in charge.

"Fine." Morgan gets up from his chair and look at them as he prepares to lay out his case. "Look at the tape when Major Tom got here. He had a gun. Seriously. All he had to do is simply shoot the girl if he wanted her dead. What does he do? He approaches her."

"He had his gun out. The place was filled with shoppers. It would be a stupid idea to do it then." remark Tiffany.

"Fine. I will give you that. But he noticed that the shoppers were being escorted out. He even mentioned that to Chuck. He could have shot her and Chuck when the coast was clear. The story would have ended right there. Instead, he kept going with this. Why? It is simple. He did not want to kill her. He wanted to be with her. And then kill her."  
"That kind of makes sense." said Jake.

"Exactly. Now add the fact that the only sighting that connects the two is romantic places, it makes perfect sense."

"The sightings. How many are there?" ask Tiffany hoping that Morgan is wrong.

"There are almost a hundred sightings." answer Jesse.

"How many have been at romantic sights?" ask Morgan, hoping that his theory was good.

"About a quarter of them."

"Major Tom."

"He has been at those locations within a month of her sightings. Before you ask, it is a 100 percent." said Jesse.

"He is looking for her. He is in love with her." said Morgan.

"So you are trying to convince us that a terrorist is looking for Jenny because he loves her."

"Yes."

"It kind of makes sense." said Thomas.

"What?" said Tiffany.

"He found her at the safe house. He could have simply killed her there with the rest of the agents. The only people that are alive are Agent Walker and Jenny. If we went by Agent Grimes' theory, I bet that Agent Walker was with Jenny. I think that Agent Grimes is right. Major Tom is dragging this out for a reason. Add the stuff that Jesse found, it makes sense." Said Thomas

"Thank you, Thomas."

"Fine. So there may be a connection. You do realize what this means?" ask Tiffany.

"What?"

"It means that everyone around Jenny is in danger. It means that Chuck, who is supposed to be protecting Jenny, is in huge trouble."

"Oh." Morgan sits down in his chair realizing what could happen to his best friend.

* * *

Chuck watch as Jenny devour a plate of tuna flavored pudding.

"Want some?" ask Jenny as she looks up at him.

"No thanks. I am just still shock that you can eat all of that." reply Chuck.

The table filled with food is now filled with empty plates. It has been a long time that he had seen this happened. The only difference is the fact that it was one person who devoured the whole table of food.

"The transformation of a human back into a Time Lord is a draining experience. So, I got some sleep while you were recovering. Now, I need some food to replenish the energy that I lost." explains Jenny as she take another spoonful of pudding.

"So, what do we do?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"What do we do?" ask Chuck to the blonde Time Lord.

"Have you not figured it out yet?" ask Jenny.

"Considering that this is my first time that I have ever time travel, I think my not figuring it out is a pretty good response to this situation."

"Chuck. We are going to Ithaca. That is all we can do at this moment." answers Jenny to Chuck's question.

"I really want to get back. I don't want Major Tom to find my family." said Chuck.

"Your family is safe."

"What?"

"Major Tom could not care less about your family. At this moment, he is looking for me. The only person that you have to be concerned about is you." said Jenny as she takes another spoonful of pudding.  
"As long as you are not anywhere near my family, they're safe."  
"Yes, Chuck. They are safe."

"That means that he may be coming after me."

"Yes."

"OK. Now, I am wishing that my last meal was not pancakes." said Chuck he looks at the empty plate.  
"Like I said before, he does not know where we are at. Once we get to Ithaca, we will be fine." explains Jenny.

"Really?"  
"Did I not mention that my ship was parked at the space station?" ask Jenny with a smile.

"No."

"Oh, Must have completely slipped my mind."

"We are still talking about the same ship that travels through time." said Chuck.

"Yes."

"Oh."

"See. Your last meal will not be a big plate filled with pancakes." point out Jenny to her friend.

"So, you are going to use your ship to take me home."

"Yep."

"Good. I feel a little uncomfortable."

"Really?" ask Jenny, who is little confused by the statement.

"I stick out like a sore thumb here."

"Oh, Chuck. You worry too much."

"So, what have you been doing for the past three years?" ask Chuck as he want to change the topic.

"Three years?"

"It has been three years since you have seen me."

"Oh." said Jenny as she shoves the spoonful of pudding in her mouth.

Chuck look at the Time Lord with a surprise.

"It has not been three years for you, has it?" said Chuck as he figured what why Jenny is getting quiet.

Her silence screams her response.

"How long has it been for you?"

"Chuck, that is not the point."

"Really. Amuse me a little. How long?

"Chuck…"

"How long?"

"It has been three hundred years." answers Jenny

"What?"

"It has been three hundred years."  
"Wow." said Chuck as he looks at Jenny. "You still look the same."

"I know."

"Wow."

"You said that already."

"Just a little shock on how you look."

"Well, you know. Good genes." said Jenny.

"Wow."

"Stop that."  
"Can't help that? You just look…"

"Yes, three hundred years old and I still look the same. Can we move on?"  
"Sure. Why didn't you call?" ask Chuck.  
"I lost your phone."  
"Really? What happened?"

"Drop it when I was rescuing a whole civilization from planetary destruction." Answer Jenny.

"Well, you had good reason."  
"I thought so at the time. Never got around coming back to your time, so I never got your number again."  
"So, what have you been doing for the past three hundred years?" asks Chuck. Jenny put her spoon down in the bowl of pudding.  
"Please do not do this."

"What?" ask Chuck.

"Chuck. What you are asking may seem like a simple question between friends when a few years have past by. What you don't understand is this: It is not simple with me. Since the last time I saw you, it has been three hundred years. I have done things that would blow up your mind. I met people. I have seen things. For me, that question would give you a year long response, which you do not have time for or may even like. So please, do not ask me that again." said Jenny with sincerity.

Chuck look at his friend's eyes. There is a little sadness and a desire in not answering his question. He has seen it too many times in Sarah Walker's eyes that he simply stops asking the questions.

"OK."

"Thank you."

Chuck sit as he watch Jenny finish her tuna pudding, even if the smell was making him a little nausea.

"I think I am going for a walk. Maybe find some pants." said Chuck as he got up from his seat. "Think you would be alright."  
Jenny looks up at her friend.

"Yes." answers Jenny.

"OK. I'll see you later." With that, Chuck starts to walk away from Jenny.

Jenny put down her spoon of tuna pudding and watches him walk out the entrance of the dining room.

"Smooth move, Jenny." said Jenny with disappointment.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Here." said Amber as she hands her manila folder to Tiffany as they walk into the Buy More to begin their shift.

Tiffany looks around the area. Being in the Buy More felt weird at times for her. It is too open and too many people. There are times that she sees security holes in the store that could threaten everyone's safety. If she was an official spy, she would have been caught. During those moments of dread, Tiffany remembers what Chuck said: she did not have to try. All she had to do was learn.

At this time, it was all they can do. Being kicked off the assignment did not make any of the recruits happy. After twenty four hours of doing their own independent research in looking for Chuck and Jenny, they came up with a big fat nothing. No leads, no sightings, and no pictures. Morgan, the champion in looking for his best friend, decided that it was best to let it go.

So, everyone all went back to their thing. For Tiffany and Amber, it was going back to the Buy More to work their shift.

"What's this?" asks Tiffany as she takes the folder off of Amber's hands.

"I have been thinking about what Morgan said in there." said Amber as she watches a customer look at the plasma television from a distance.

"Really? Why would you think about his discussion on how vampires are overrated." said Tiffany.

"Not that. It is what he said about Major Tom. Once you think about the evidence that was presented, it makes a lot of sense that Major Tom could be suffering from some sort of stalker crush." said Amber as they walk past the Nerd Herd desk.

"OK."

"I think I might be too." admits Amber in a very quiet voice. Tiffany takes a look at her friend…Tiffany smile at the thought. She just thought of Amber as her friend. It was a weird thought. Considering how different the two women are, it was weird. Tiffany can tell that Amber had been thinking about this. Both women walk through the doors to walk toward the break room.

"Really." said Tiffany.

"I think it might be a good idea if I stop focusing on Chuck so much. He has a girlfriend who is our teacher, who could potentially get me kick out of the program. I also don't want to be that person. I don't want to be that person who forgets that there are other things out there. I don't want to forget to be happy. I don't want to be that girl who defines herself with the person that she is with. You know the type of person I am talking about. I don't want to be that girl that keeps talking about marriage and forgets that there is more to life then the pursuit of some man. In order for me to do that, I need to let Chuck go." explains Amber.

"Amber, I don't think you have to worry about that." reassures Tiffany. They both approach the time clock and punch in.

"Why not?"

"Because you just handed me that manila folder. Most people are like that monkey grabbing that banana in the log. They don't let go. You are." said Tiffany as both women walks back out onto the sales floor. "This is a huge step that most people can't take. Only one thing before I shred it. You are not keeping copies are you?"

"No. Everything is in there." reply Amber.

"Good." Tiffany starts to walk away. "You should be proud of yourself."

"Thanks." said Amber as she walks behind the Nerd Herd counter.  
"What the heck was that about?" ask Jeff as he approaches the area.

"Nothing. Just letting something go." answer Amber as she starts getting comfortable in her area.

"OK." said Jeff as he wonders what that was all about.

* * *

Chuck found pant and a shirt to get dress in. It was a white long shelve shirt and black pant. When he realized that he was wearing the same thing as the Buy More uniform, it made him chuckled a bit. Thankfully it did not cost him anything. It turned out that the guests on the luxury cruise liner have everything paid for. The massages are free. The food is paid for. The spare clothes are free. Everything on the cruiser is free. Chuck did a little happy dance when he found out. After all, he was not carrying any cash with him in the robe.

After finding pants and shirt, he simply started to walk. What he found is a big window off the side of the cruiser. He simply stopped walking so he can watch as the stars passed him by.

"You are one weird person." Chuck turns to the voice. It is the William from the dining hall.

"Thank."

"If I was you, I would be in the sauna right now, resting my bones. Instead, you are simply staring at the window watching the stars go by." said William as he walks to Chuck's side.

"What can I say? I like the stars." answers Chuck as he continues to look at the stars.

"Really?"

"My dad would have these mini trips for me and my sister. You have to understand that my Dad worked a lot. So, when he did take a moment to stop working, he would take me and my sister out on drives. I loved it because it meant I would be spending time with him. It was never about the destination with me. It was always the journey. Don't get me wrong. I loved it when I arrived at my destination, but I always loved the journey. You get to see sights that you would never see everyday. One thing that I loved was when he would drive back home at night. It was beautiful to just sit there and look up at the sky while he drove. I would pretend that my dad was flying a spaceship and I was simply along for the ride." remembers Chuck as he looks out the window.

"When you put it that way, I can understand. I can not really blame you watching the stars." William starts to look out of the window with Chuck.

"Thanks." said Chuck.

"How is your dad?" ask William.

"He passed away." William looks at Chuck.

"Sorry to hear that."

"So am I. I miss him. A lot. There is so much I did not do with him. Stuff I wish he could see me do now. This sight would have blown his mind. After he finished drooling over the cruiser." said Chuck with a smile as his imagination takes over.

"Well, this is a luxury cruiser. It is always being drooled over." chuckles William.

"He would have loved to see the stars like this."  
"Well, then he would have like what is coming up next."

"What's that?" asks Chuck.

"We are arriving at the space station, Ithaca."

"We're there?"

"Yep. The pilots are getting their docking orders as we speak." The old man looks at Chuck with a smile. "Do you want to see the ship dock onto the space station?"  
"Yes. You don't even have to ask me twice."  
"Follow me." William smile. He starts to walk toward the direction to get the best view to see the ship dock onto the space station. Chuck simply follows the old man to see the sight.

* * *

It is a job that paid the bill. For Bryan Dole, that is all the job was. It meant to him that he had to wear the blue uniform with the funny hat which serves no purpose other than to cover his head. It meant that he had to pass a test in order to get this job. It meant that he had to use "yes, sir" and "no sir." Flying a luxury cruiser is just that. It was a job. It is the job that he had to take to pay the bills that he had at home. There was time that he saw stuff that would blow people's mind. Like most job, those things become a commonplace. It was just another thing to see while piloting a ship.

Right now, Bryan Dole had only one concern: Docking the luxury cruiser to the space station, Ithaca.

"This is the Odysseus, contacting Ithaca. Over." said Bryan as he radios to the upcoming space station. Bryan had to get the all clear from the space station before he could even dock. While the luxury cruiser is still far away from the station, Bryan had a little problem in docking the cruiser. At this moment, he is reviewing the procedure in docking a cruiser safely before actually docking.  
Bryan waits for a minute before approaching the space station.

"This is the Odysseus, contacting the Ithaca. Over." repeats Bryan as he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach starting to form.

"This is the space station, Ithaca." reply a robotic voice. "Currently the space station is under a level 10 warning. Repeat. Currently the space station is under a level 10 warning. Please continue to the next space station."

"Level 10? That is not good." Bryan slows the cruiser down. He grabs the mic and presses a button. "Captain."

"Yes, Bryan." reply a voice.

"We have a situation at hand. You are needed."

"What is wrong now? Don't tell me that we are approaching a meteorite storm." answers the Captain with exasperation.

"No, sir. The space station Ithaca is under a level 10 warning." explains Bryan.

"What? That can't be. Did you not receive the warning beacon?" ask the Captain, who did not bother hiding his annoyance to the news.

"I am checking the frequency now, and no warning beacon has been issued." answers Bryan.

"Level 10. It has been a long time since any space station has been a level 10." remarks the Captain.  
"Sir. Am I correct to assume that there was a biological attack that occurred on the station?" ask Bryan.

"That is correct, Bryan. It is also means that the station is quarantined until further noticed. No one can get in or get out of that station. I am on my way to you now. Contact the heads of the department and get them to the conference room now. We need to know what our options are. Stop the ship and wait until further orders." command the Captain.  
"Yes, sir." said Bryan.

Bryan looks at the space station and could feel a sense of dread coming over him. A question simply form in his mind: What happened on the space station?

* * *

"Can I say that this has been one of the finest breakfasts that I have ever had?" said Jenny to the big chief.

After Jenny finished her banquet, she went straight to the kitchen. She found a very busy kitchen. She saw the chief chopping up a turquoise colored fruit. Jenny watch as another man is simply tossing in a big bag of bananas in a pot filled with big bugs. She watched the other people running around in the kitchen, putting up pots and pans and washing. The female Time Lord simply absorbed the chaos of the kitchen. The Chief let out a big smile when he saw Jenny. The man is big because he had tasted and eaten his own cooking. Jenny went straight to him and told him what she thought about his breakfast.

He smiles at the girl and chuckles.

"Thank you. It always help that I love my work. Considering that I have never had someone order the whole menu, it gives me great joy to actually meet you." The chief looks at the tiny woman. He is still trying to figure out where all the food went.

"Well, the pleasure has been all mine. Every dish was splendid." said Jenny with a big smile.

"Thank you. You have been most kind." said the Chief as he gladly received the compliment.

"No, thank you."

A man starts to walk up to the chief. He is dress in a tuxedo, but wearing a black hat.

"Sir." said the man to the Chief.

"Yes, Walter." acknowledges the chief.

"You are being summoned." said the man called Walter.

"Why?"

"It is an urgent matter."

"Can it wait? Can you see that I am with a wonderful girl?" points out the chief. Jenny simply smiles bigger at the compliment.

"Oh, Chief. I am hardly a girl any longer. I am older than you." reply Jenny.  
"See. This charming girl has all of my attention. Why would I want to leave her now?" ask the Chief.

"Every head is being called to an _emergency _meeting." said Walter as he emphasizes the word emergency.

"All of them?" ask the Chief as his own smile grows smaller.

"Yes, sir."

"Why?" ask the chief as he places his focus on Walter.

"It could be that we have not docked yet." said Jenny. Both men turn to her and they did not bother hiding their confusion at the statement. "I know my way around a ship. We should have been docked already. Since we are not docked, it could only mean one thing. Something is wrong."

"Is this true, Walter?" ask the Chief.

"Yes, Chief." answer Walter. The happy face on the Chief is replaces with a concern face. He turns around and looks at his staff.

"No one leaves the kitchen. I want a full inventory on what we have." commands the Chief.

"We just did inventory two days ago." answers one of the Chief's staff.

"Do another one. I need numbers before the meeting. Now." commands Chief.  
"Yes, sir." said everyone on the staff. Chief turns away from Walter and to Jenny. He holds Jenny's hands.  
"My apologies. It looks like I will have to leave you."

"If it is serious, tell them that I can help." offers Jenny.

"What?"

"I have experience in this sort of situations. If they need help, I am glad to offer it." offers again Jenny.

The Chief looks at her with curiosity.

"What does a girl know about this sort of situations?"  
"Chief, it is a long story. Just trust me." said Jenny.

"Ok, but they may ask for some sort of proof."

"Tell them I helped King Tluidulswess with the Scarlet Plague that occurred on his planet." answers Jenny.

"I make sure that they know." said the Chief as he starts walking away from her.

* * *

"How bad is it?" ask the old man with Chuck. A young man in a uniform

"It is a level 10." said the young man who had been sent to retrieve the old man.

"What is a level 10?" ask Chuck.

"Biological attack on the station. It's extremely serious situation. Chuck, I have to go." state William

"I understand. If you need any help, I would be glad to help." offers Chuck.

"I will remember that." smiles William.

The old man starts to walk away from Chuck. Chuck takes a breath, trying to figure out what to do next.

* * *

All the heads of each department of the luxury cruise is sitting in the conference room. They surround the big conference table, each wearing a concern face on their face.

"How is our supplies?" ask the Captain.

"We have enough food to last us for six months." said the Chief.

"Medicine, we have enough for six months under normal circumstance." answers the Head Physician who is losing his hair. He is a skinny man that everyone knows that had a little ego problem.

"Life supports will last for a year." said the Head Engineer. His black mustache did not match his gray hair. There is still grease on his hands. "Our problem is the fact that we don't have enough fuel."  
"Of course the nearest station is right in front of us. Any other stations nearby?" ask the Captain knowing the answer. He did not bother hiding his white hair or his age. He found that people respect him more if he shows his experience within his appearance. While everyone tries to maintain their vanity, he let it go to assure the passengers that he knows what he is doing.

"We don't have enough fuel to get there." answers the Head Engineer. "We all know that our owners only want to spend enough credit to get us to each space station and nothing more.

"Don't start. What are our other options?" asks the Captain  
"We could send someone over to assess the situation. The only problem that we have is the fact that we can only do it once and there is no way that they are coming back on board the ship." suggest the Head Physician.

"I don't care about the situation. If the space station is answering that there is a level 10, then I am making sure no one gets on that station. Right now, I am having the pilot sending out a distress call out. It should keep all civilian cruisers away from this place. It should also get the authorities involve. I am worry about our ship. I don't want any surprises getting on board."

"You do realize that we are at a safe distance away from the ship." points out William, whose actual title on the cruiser is Head of Hospitality.

"I do not want to assume anything at this point. What I want is to get out of this area until we get the all clear." said the frustrated Captain.

"Again. I think we need to send someone over to assess the situation. Is it safe to get fuel loaded onto the ship? Is there anyone there at the station? Theses are the questions that need to be answers." suggest the Head Physician.  
"So, every suggestion is going back to sending someone over to the station." ask the Captain to his crew.

"Yes, sir." Answer the Head Engineer.  
"If we do that, who can we send over?" ask the Captain.

The silence shows the lack of ideas that his committee had.  
"Sir. I just met a woman who may help us. She said that she dealt with these types of situations." mention the Chief.

"Really? I doubt that." dismiss the Captain

"She did say that she dealt with the Scarlet Plague? I don't know what she meant by that." said the Chief. The Captain looks at the Chief when he said the statement with disbelief.

"Oh."

"You know what she is referring to?" ask Chief.

"Actually I do." The Captain leans back in his chair.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense. What is that about?" ask William.

"It was a planetary plague that threatened to become a galactic plague. It occurred about a decade ago. All flights were suspended until there was a cure. It was never broadcasted to the public. The incident was an embarrassment to many individuals. Powerful individuals. The only ones that knew the actual situation were the Captains of all ships. We made up a story that it was an annual ship inspection. All the cruisers in the galaxy had to be inspected at that time." explain the Captain.

"What happened?"

"A cure was found. The ruler of one of the kingdoms found it, but….."  
"But what?"

"There were rumors that a blond woman helped. According to the rumors, she was the one that found the cure along with a nurse." explains the Captain.

"Well, the woman that I spoke with is blond." said the Chief.

"It could be that she is just banking on someone else's credit to get a free trip." said the Head of Security.

"If she is, then she is going to earn it. I want to see her now." said the Captain.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Hey." said Jenny as she slowly approach Chuck. She notices that Chuck found pants. She could not help herself but smile. Chuck is still standing at the big window looking at the stars.

"It finally hit me." said Chuck without looking away from the window. Jenny simply stands beside Chuck looking at the passing stars.

"What?"

"Sarah is dead." said Chuck.

Jenny waits for him to explain what is on his mind, even though she knows what he is going to say.

"I was looking at the stars, thinking that it would be something that I would want her to see with me. It's really is funny when you think about it. She showed me so much since she came into my life. I hate to say it, but I feel that I owe it to her to show her something."

Jenny looks at Chuck patiently. She let her smile go away.

"So, when I saw this beautiful view, my first thought was how much Sarah would love this view. I thought that this view would simply take her breath away. I mean I could show her this. Then I remember. I am in the 55th century. She would be dead. It is really a depressing thought when I really thought about it." said Chuck. He turns to see the blonde Time Lord. Jenny is looking at the view with Chuck.

"That is why you do not think about it, Chuck. It is really one of the hazards of time travel. Everyone you know and everything that you care about is gone. It is not there. There is no evidence that it even existed. The only thing you can do is simply not to think about it. If you do, it would simply break your heart." explains Jenny as she continues to look at the passing stars.

"That's why you didn't call." reasons Chuck.  
Jenny stares at the stars.

"There is a reason why there are rules in those time traveling movies. It isn't because of the time space continuum. It is because what it does to a person when they know too much about a person's life. What they did right. What they did wrong. How they died. It does hurt you." explains Chuck mostly to himself.

"Now add to the fact that I live longer than most species in the universe." said Jenny.

"How can you do it?" asks Chuck.

"Like I said, I do not focus too much on it. I focus on the task at hand. And I run and never look back." Jenny turns to Chuck.

Chuck could see it. It flashes in her eyes for a moment. He could see the big picture in her eyes and it was sad.

"I'm sorry." said Chuck.

"What for?" ask Jenny. It disappears from her eyes.

"I was angry at you for not calling." apologize Chuck

"Well, you had every reason to be."

"Still, it is no excuse."

"Apology accepted." said Jenny as she places her focus back on the stars.

"Thanks."

"Beside, I need your help."

"My help? Why do you need that?" ask Chuck.

"In case you have not heard, there is level 10 situation on the space station."

"I heard something about that."  
"The problem that we have is the fact that the cruiser is out of fuel. We don't even have enough fuel to go to the next station." explains Jenny.

"Which means that we get the fuel here or we are stuck here." reasons Chuck.

"Exactly."

"Level 10. I am assuming that this is bad."

"Level 10 means that the whole space station has been attacked involving a biological weapon. The space station is quarantined and all ships must be a planet length away from the station. There is supposed to be an emergency beacon that is supposed to have been sent out to keep all ships away from the station until a team has evaluated the station. As you can see, that did not happen." explain Jenny.

"OK. How long is it before a team gets here to look at the situation?" ask Chuck.  
"Right now the captain is sending out the emergency beacon to keep other ships away. After that, it would take about four days until a team is sent out." said Jenny.

"How safe are we?"  
"As long as no one from the station gets on board, we are safe."

"What is our chance with that?"

"I would say one in a trillion. Maybe even more. The cruiser will be very picky in terms on who will board the ship and who gets to go onto the space station.

"Why would anyone want to get on the space station?" ask Chuck.

"Well, we don't have any fuel. This station has the fuel that this ship needs. There is also the fact that no one has really evaluates the severity of the situation. Of course, my ship is on the other side of the station." adds Jenny.

"Of course. Where else would it be?" Chuck look at the stars again hoping it would calm his nerves down.

"There is the most important reason to get to the space station."

"What's that?"

"Curiosity." Jenny turns to Chuck with a big smile. Chuck, in return, looks at the Time Lord with a little fright as he tries to process the information.

"You want to see what is going on that station. Don't you?" ask Chuck.  
"Yes." answers Jenny.

"You want me to come with you." said Chuck as he put together Jenny's train of thought.

"The thought has crossed my mind."

"What could I possibly do?" ask Chuck.

"Well, it is either that or stays here and gets a massage."

Chuck turns to the Time Lord wondering what she was thinking.

"That is probably the most sensible thing to do."

"It is. But you know you would be bored." said Jenny.

"I sincerely doubt that." Chuck turn to look at the view one last time. "If something happens to you on that station, I know I couldn't forgive myself. When do we go?"

"We leave in a hour." said Jenny with a little happiness in her voice. Chuck could not help himself, but smile.

* * *

Morgan walks into the Buy More with Lester and Tiffany yelling at each other. Morgan looks around the store. Thankfully, there are no customers in the store. Morgan looks at the scene. The employees in the store are divided as they watch the yelling match. It looks like they had pick sides in the fights. The Buy more employees are watching from Lester's back while the CIA agents watch from behind Tiffani's back.

The chasm behind the two groups is too apparent. Visually, they look like night and day. Morgan could not help but worry about this sight.

"Hey!" said Morgan as he walks up to the yelling match.

"You are one ugly pathetic man!" yells out Tiffany.  
"Tell me something that I haven't heard." answers Lester.

"You smell too."  
"Seriously. For a management trainee, you have the mind set of a four year old!" yell out Lester.

"Excuse me? Are you saying that you are smarter than me?"  
"Sweetie. I can reassemble a computer blindfold and it would work. What can you do? Put on markup without a mirror?" counter Lester at the future agent.

"Hey!" said Morgan.

"Are you saying that I am a moron?"

"To put it in a language you can understand, duh!" said Lester.

"If no one starts paying attention to me, you all will regret it!" said Morgan.

"That's so mature." said Tiffany.

"Like I said, it is a language that you can understand."  
Morgan notices that no one was paying attention to him. The question is WWCD: What Would Chuck Do?" Being the mature person in the store, Chuck would take the two fighting co workers back in the back room and have them talk it out. He would then arbitrate the whole situation until it reaches a good conclusion.

Of course, Chuck never had the problem in getting everyone's attention.

Morgan walks away from the fight and head toward Chuck's office. He walks into the office and sits behind Chuck's desk. He opens bottom drawer. Morgan moves the files to see the bottom of the drawer to see an air horn. He takes the air horn out and start looking at the shelves in the office. When he saw the megaphone, Morgan grabs it.

Morgan walks out of the office with the air horn and the megaphone in both hands. He walks up to the fight that is still going on.

"Wait, can you hear that Lester. That is the last of your self respect walking out the door." said a progressively angry woman that had 100 different ways in hurting Lester.

"Please. I lost that a long time ago. Probably around the same time that your virginity left you." counters Lester.

Morgan lifts the megaphone in the air. Morgan saw Tiffani's file. John Casey wanted Morgan to know who was in the program and to illustrate how big a deal it was for Morgan to be in program. With that information from that file, Morgan had a good idea what could happen to Lester if Tiffany gets mad enough.

Morgan had to take control before this yelling match turns into a fight. He then places the air horn at the mouthpiece of the mega phone. He let out the noise to silence the argument.

Everyone jump away from the noise. Everyone turn their attention to Morgan.

"Dude!" yells out Lester.

"Seriously. That is a little extreme." responses Tiffany.

"Both of you in Chuck's office right now." said Morgan. He made sure that his frustration could be heard in his voice.

Neither of them moves. When Morgan places the air horn closer to the mega phone, Lester and Tiffany starts to walk toward Chuck's office.

Morgan places his focus back at the group that was watching the fight.

"And all of you, pretend that you are working." said Morgan as he starts walking back to the office. Everyone else slowly walk away the scene.

Morgan walks into the office with Lester and Tiffany sitting in the respective chairs. Morgan closes the door and look at the two fighting people.

"Dude. That was a little loud." said Tiffany.

"Yeah." agree Lester.

"It was the only way I could get you two to stop fighting." said Morgan as he takes a seat in front of the fighting couple.

"All you had to do was say the word." said Lester.

"Really?" said the skeptical Morgan.

"Yeah."

"I was there standing for two minutes trying to get your attention." explains Morgan.

"Oh." said Lester.

"Sorry." apologize Tiffany.

"Look. When Chuck is not here, I am in charge. Do I make myself clear?" ask Morgan.  
"Yeah.

"OK."

"Good. Second, both of you know better than fighting in the store. If customers would see this, they would have walked out or worse, they would have called corporate." Point out Morgan.

Both individuals look down at the floor.

"C'mon, Lester. I expect better from you. You of all people know that here at the Buy more, we follow Big Mike's rule."  
"What is Big Mike's rule?" ask Tiffany.

"Big Mike used to be our manager here at the Buy More. Very cool, but he did have some rules. One of his rules is simple. Don't do anything stupid in front of the customers. If you do, don't get caught." said Lester. Lester places his focus back at Morgan. "You're right. I hate it when YOU are right."

"It happens once in a while." said Morgan.

"Sorry. It won't happen again." said Tiffany as she looks at Lester. The man is obviously uncomfortable about the whole thing.

"So am I." answer Lester.

"That is all well and good, but why are you fighting? I mean. You two have been at this ever since the Grand Re Opening." asks Morgan.

Both individuals look at each other with a little confusion.

"C'mon guys. We are family. When I was watching you guys fight, I saw a family divided. I need you guys to get your acts together at least for the crew. I don't care how, but do it."

"It's because she thinks that she's better than us." answers Lester.

"It's because I am." responds Tiffany with conviction.

"See!" point out Lester. "I told you. That is what bugging me."  
"Look." said Morgan, taking in charge. "This has gone on long enough. I hate to say this, but I may have to enact a ruling."

"Ruling?" ask Tiffany."

"What?" chime in Lester.  
"In the Buy More, we need the fighting to stop. We are surrounded by enemies here. All the other stores are waiting for us to make a mistake. If they know that we have a civil war here, they will take advantage of that. They will pick us off like rats. I can't have that. So, I have to settle this once and for all."

"OK." answer Lester.  
"Sure, Morgan." Tiffany could feel apprehension building.

"Here is what is going to happen. Starting today, there will be a best 3 out of 5 falls."

"What?" said Tiffany.

"Now, we are talking." said Lester as he could see what is going to happen.

"The main problem that both of you have is that you both think that you are better than the others. So, I will pick the contests and whoever wins 3 out of the 5 contests will be declared the winner. That is it. No more fighting. No more arguing. It stops after that. The contests should settle any doubts on who is better."

"I can live with that." said Tiffany.

"This is perfect." said Lester with a smile.

"Since this is between you two, you don't get any help. Any outside help will get you disqualified." said Morgan.

"No problem, I wouldn't need any." said a confident future secret agent

"Neither do I." said Lester.

"Good. That is my ruling. Contest will start once you get out of the door. Your first contest is simple. Basic store contest: Lester, you have to get 5 outstanding service call." said Morgan.

"Holy crap, Morgan. Why don't you have me play on the highway?" said a disbelief Lester.

"Ha, Ha!" mock Tiffany.

"Tiffany. You have to sell 5 big screens with warranty plans today." counter Morgan to Tiffany.

"What?" said Tiffany.

"How long do we have?" ask Lester.

"You two have the end of the day. Of course if this is too hard, we can always to go the refrigerator and see what's in there." said Morgan.

"Oh hell no." said Lester as he rushes out the door.

"What is so frightened in the refrigerator?" ask Tiffany.

"Have you seen the inside of the refrigerator?" ask Morgan.

"Month old food." Answer Tiffany.

"Try eating it." said Morgan.

"Double yuck." said Tiffany.

"Wow." said Morgan as he looks out the window.

"What?" said Tiffany as she look at what Morgan is looking at. She sees Lester with a customer. "No frigging way."

Tiffany rushes out the door to get a customer.

"Wow. I can't believe that I solve that crisis." said Morgan.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Chuck forgot about everything. He forgot about Sarah. He forgot about Major Tom. He forgot about his sister. He forgot about those lonely depressing years that he spent in his room after he got kicked out of Stanford. Chuck forgot about his first kiss. Everything good and bad was no longer on his mind. Chuck is in space and he feels wonderful.

When a spaceship docks onto a space station, a tube would connect to the ship. It allows the passengers to get into the space station. Being that the space station is under a Level 10 quarantine, this entrance had been denied to Jenny and Chuck.

Jenny knew that there was one entrance that is never denied. If careful, it would be a piece of cake. If not careful, someone would die. It is a utility hatch on the left side of the station that allows workers to outside of the space station to repair any damages if necessary.

Jenny and Chuck would have to put on space suits and get out of a small ship and open the hatch.

The excitement grew when Chuck saw the space suits. His eyes grew in happiness when he saw that he was going to wear a space suit. They were ugly orange puffy suits and a helmet. When Jenny handed him a bag of equipment, Chuck did not complained about how heavy it was. Chuck nearly squealed in delight when he saw the small ship that was going to take them to the space station. Chuck did not make a sound when Jenny opened up the spaceship's hatch when they arrived at their destination. She activated the spaceship's platform to extend to the space station's hatch to allow her to walk to the space station. To say that Chuck was excited would be an understatement.

Jenny looks back at Chuck. He is still holding onto the bag as he stands on the small platform. He is not paying attention to her. His focus is completely on the stars. She places her focus on unlocking the hatch.

There is a wheel on the front of the door. Jenny had to turn the wheel to unlock the utility door. She slowly turns the wheel to the left.

"Wow." said Chuck. The suit had communicators within, allowing both Jenny and Chuck to talk to each other.

"You can say another word." said Jenny.

"I don't have any other word to use right now." said Chuck as he marvels at the sight of seeing the luxury cruiser in outer space.

"Really?"  
"Jenny, I am in space wearing a space suit. That makes me an astronaut." explains Chuck.

"Yes, it does." reply Jenny as she continues to turn the wheel. She could not help but smile. She could feel Chuck smiling from ear to ear.

"I am in space right now. Not in a space ship, but in actual space." explain Chuck.

"It is wonderful."  
"Yes!"

"And here you were thinking about getting a massage." points out Jenny.

"What was I thinking?"

"You are welcome."

"Thank you." said Chuck as he turns to see Jenny still turning the wheel. "Now, can you hurry up? I don't want to stay out here too long."

"Are you afraid that you would float away?"

"Yes, actually."

"Relax. Those boots that you are wearing are magnetic. It will keep you from floating away. Beside, I am …." Jenny continues to turn the wheel until it stops. "Done."  
Jenny slowly opens the door. There is a small room with a door. She walks in with Chuck following her.

"Chuck, I need you to close the door and lock it."  
"OK." Once inside, Chuck turns around and grabs the door. He shut it and starts turning the wheel to lock it.

"This room is an airlock. It will not unlock the next door until the first door is lock."  
"Gotcha." Once the door is lock, a blast of air circulated within the room. Once it stops, Jenny and Chuck could hear the next door unlock. Jenny opens the door. And they walk in.

The next room is dimly lit. There are shelves of tools and space suits. Chuck sees that there are lockers off to the side.

"Click your heels on your boots. That should turn of the magnets on your boots." said Jenny as she clicks her heels. Chuck try to and found that he could not. He looks at Jenny, who was chuckling.

"Funny."

"Sorry. I just could not help myself. There is a button on your belt buckle of the suit." point out Jenny. Chuck looks down at his belt and sees the button. He presses it and found that he can move his feet with ease.

"Thanks."

"Just keep your helmet on, Chuck." command Jenny.

"You think that the air is contaminated." ask Chuck.

"Until we can get to the security office, I am not taking any chances." Jenny looks around the area, looking for anything that could give her an idea what could have happen on the station.  
"What's in there?" ask Chuck.

"Each security offices have a computer that we can check on the air quality in the station. Until we get to one of them, I do not want to take any chance." said Jenny.  
"All right. So where is it?"  
"Find the layout of the station. There is usually one posted on the wall in these area." said Jenny as she starts looking at the wall.

Chuck walk past the lockers and went straight to the door.

"Found it." said Chuck as he start to memorize the map on the door.

Jenny stops looking and walk toward Chuck.

"Most supervisors posted a map on the entrance." point out Chuck as he taps the map on the door. Jenny looks at the map.

"According to this, the office is on the third floor down." said Jenny.

"Jenny." said Chuck with some hesitation.

"Yeah."

"What are we getting into?" ask Chuck.

"Excuse me?"  
"Look, I know that a level 10 situation is bad. But what are we talking about?"  
"You want specifics." ask Jenny.  
"It would be nice."  
"If we are lucky, there is a very good chance that there will be dead bodies in various degrees of decomposing. If we are not lucky, there will be chaos, pandemonium and all around panic behind this door." said Jenny.

"OK. That is what I want to know. I just want to prepare myself." said Chuck as he steps away from the door.  
"Good." Jenny opens up the door.

The light is brighter in the hall. The boots of their space suit make a small sound as they walks down the hall. Chuck could hear the hum of the computers and the lights. He looks around the area looking for some sort of panic. Instead, the hallway looks clean like in the Star Trek movies.

"You remember where the elevator is at?" ask Jenny.

"We need to make a right on the next corner. After that it is two left after that." answers Chuck.  
"You still have that good memory." remarks Jenny.

"Well, I do have that computer in my head." answers Chuck as they continue to walk toward where the elevator is located at.

"It is called a brain, Chuck."

"I still have the Intersect in my head." Correct Chuck.

"Did you not tell me that you were going to get rid of that thing?" remind Jenny.  
"Things changes."  
"I can see that. You put a different version in your head." said Jenny as she looks around the area.

"How did you know?"

"The same way I knew the last time. I could see it in your eyes." answers Jenny

"Oh."

"Beside, I know you did not learn kung fu and shoot a gun with pinpoint accuracy within three years." said Jenny with a smile.

"It is pretty obvious." said Chuck.

"Yes it is. So why did you do it?" ask Jenny.  
"For a lot of reasons." Reply Chuck.

"Just give me the top three reasons."

"I was good at it. I did not want to lose Sarah. And I was good at it." Jenny smile at the answers.

"Those are good reasons. You do realize that you will never have a normal life?"  
"I know. The thing is that I am good at all of this spy business. That is really the most important reason. I hate to say it, but I am good. I also like saving people. I like making a difference." explains Chuck.

"Even if you are a tool." said Jenny as she start playing devil's advocate.

"Well, I am not with the CIA anymore." answers Chuck. "I quit a few months ago."

"Good for you. So, how are you going to help people now?"

"I got money and equipment. I think I am going to do what my dad did. I do it independently. Go after the people that no one knows about and no one can touch."  
"Seem like you had a plan." said a smiling Jenny.

"Well, there is this issue with mom."

"I thought you said that she left you when you were young." remembers Jenny.  
"She did. Turns out that there may be more to the story."

"Always is."

"Dad has been looking for her for years. He never seems to get close enough to find her. Now that he has passed away, I figure that I should look for her. If I can find her, maybe I can learn why she left us." explains Chuck.

"Just a word of caution." said Jenny

"Sure."

"You may not like the answer."

"But it is an answer that I need to know." said Chuck.

"Just be careful."

"I will."

They approach up to the elevator. Jenny press the button and the elevator hum to life.

"Is it me or is this too quiet for a space station?" ask Chuck as he looks around.

"It is."  
"I really don't like this." said Chuck as the elevator doors open.

"I can not blame you. Everything does feel off." said Jenny as she walks in. Chuck walk in and press the button to go to the fifth floor.

"I really think we are missing something." said Chuck as the doors close. A small tune starts to play on the speakers.

"Just stay by my side. I will protect you." said Jenny.

"Funny."

"I was not joking." Chuck looks at Jenny. Her smile had been replaces with a slight concern as she scans the elevator.

The door opens up to their floor. Like the other hallway, it is lit. Both Chuck and Jenny step out of the elevator.

"It is too clean." said Jenny as she looks around the area.

"That's a bad thing?" questions Chuck.

"In these types of situation, yes it is. There should be bodies on the floor. There should be blood stains on the walls or vomit in the corners."

"But the hallway is clean. Maybe someone has been cleaning."

"Level 10 usually means that there is 0% of survival for anyone that has been in contact with the situation."  
"But you lived through one, haven't you?" reminds Chuck.

"Yes, I have, but the conditions were very different. I never got into contact with the disease, I had help and I was on a planet. We could contain the situation in a small area. Being in a space station, that is bad. There is no way to contain that situation other than within the station itself. Anyone inside the station does not have that luxury. There is a 95% chance that everyone would have gotten." explain Jenny.

"When you put it that way, why is the whole area clean? I have not seen anything like that since we walked in."

"Let's just hurry to the security room." said Jenny as her pace of walking speed up.

Both individuals start to run to the room. They stop when they found the door that said SECURITY. There is a number pad on the side of the door.

"It's lock." said Chuck.  
"No, it is not. We just have to figure out the combination." said Jenny as she looks at the number pad.

Chuck looks at the number pad. He felt the back of his neck rise. He closes his eyes. He already knows what was going to happen. He let his flash happen.

"Try 5-9-2-8-9-0." said Chuck as he open his eyes.

Jenny press the numbers and the door open for them.

"Now that was weird." said Chuck.

"What is?"

"When I flash, I always flash on things already in the Intersect and it would compute the number. But, how can I do it when I never seen this." ask Chuck.

"Maybe there is more to the Intersect then you know." point out Jenny.

"That would be a story for another day."

They walk in the room. Like the hallway, it is clean. There is a computer, weaponry, spacesuits, armor and three desks. Jenny walks up to the computer. Chuck walk up behind Jenny. She pulls up the communication program. She smiles as she found the inter space program.

"Space ship Odysseus." said Jenny into the mic.

"Is that you, Jenny?" ask a voice from a speaker.  
"Yes, Captain."

"Glad to hear your voice." said the Captain.

"Thank you. How is everything up there?"

"Good. We just received word that a security forces has been deployed to secure the station. How are things on the station?" ask the Captain.

"Too quiet, sir. Based on my experience, I will say that you do not want to be here." answers Jenny.

"It's that bad?"  
"Not yet."

"We will maintain our distance from the space station."

"I will look at surveillance video and proceed to the fueling dock."

"Please be careful."

"I will, Captain. I will check in one hour."

"Agreed." said the Captain as he sign off. Jenny looks at Chuck.

"Let's find out what actually happened here." said Jenny to her friend as she sign on the computer.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Jake Harding came from a family of spies. His father was a spy. His mother was a spy. His older brothers are spies. During his time at the university, he studied five different languages and played college football. The CIA recruiter knew his father. To say that he was born to be a baker, would have been a big lie.

When the opportunity to get on the fast track in becoming an agent appeared, Jake took it. To learn from experienced spies with exceptional reputation in accomplishing missions, it was an opportunity not to be passed up.

To work in Burbank, California in a Buy More, that is something he did wish not to have experience in. Getting his butt kicked by Agent John Casey was an experience that he wanted. Still, he had to close the store with Jeff and the other Buy More staff, an experience that he hopes that he will never have to do without backup.

Jake Harding walks into a busy Buy More. He expects this to happen. After all, the Buy More is still feeling the effects of the Grand Opening sale. Since the sale had been extended for a full week, everyone in the area seems to be taking advantage of the sale. He sees a little old woman picking up an I Pad. He just walks past by a kid trying out the latest video game.

What catches his eye is one scene. He notices that Jeff and Amber standing behind the Nerd Herd desk watching Tiffany. Jake turns to see Tiffany. He watches Tiffany, who is talking to a customer about a big plasma television.

"What's going on?" ask Jake as he approach the Nerd Herd desk.  
"Hey, Jake." answers Amber as she continue to watch Tiffany.  
"Hey, Super Spy." acknowledges Jake as he did not take his eyes off of Tiffany.

"What?" said Jake as he stares at Jeff.

"You look like a spy." said Jeff. Amber turn to Jake to see the fear in Jake's face.

"Relax, Jake. Jeff is trying to figure out nick name for everyone." explains Amber to Jake. Jake let out a sigh of relief.

"Really?" said Jake.

"Yep. I'm the vampire chick." said Amber.

"Yeah. I don't see it." said Jake as he stares at Amber.

"Vampire Dairies." said Jeff as if that would explain everything.

"Never seen the show." said Jake.

"It turns out that there is a blonde vampire on the show and he thinks that I look like a character." explains Amber.

"Blonde vampire? Seems weird. I like my vampires to be dark and psychotic." said Jake. "So, I look like a spy."

"You look like James Bond." said Jeff as he continues to watch Tiffany.

"Well, I always said that I look like a young Daniel Craig." said Jake as he stands up straight. He turns to watch Tiffany. "So, why are we watching Tiffany?"  
"You were not here this morning." said Amber as she realizes that Jake did not see the blowout.

"Nope. Closing the store tonight."  
"Well, you missed the fight between Tiffany and Lester."  
"Verbal or physical?" ask Jake.

"It was a yelling match. Any way, Morgan decided that a contest is in order to settle their differences." explain Amber.

"3 wins out of 5 matches. Winner takes the title of the best that there ever was and will be. We have not received any service calls or been getting customers all day. So, we have been watching Tiffany and Lester compete with each other." said Jeff.

"OK. What's the first match?" ask Jake.

"Tiffany has to sell 5 televisions and Lester has to be 5 satisfactory service calls." said Jeff.

"Crap. Tiffany is going to win this one. Lester hates service calls." said Jake. Amber and Jeff look at Jake in disbelief. "What? I pay attention on what is going on around here. I see how Lester avoids work."

"True." agree Jeff as he places his focus back on Tiffany, who has a big smile on her face. "Crap."

"Yep." said Amber. "That smile mean one thing. She just sold number 4."

"Wow." said Jake. "Where is Lester?"

"Earlier in the day, Tiffany hit Lester with a service call." said Amber.

"Wouldn't that help Lester?" ask Jake.

"Not if it is an installation of the television that she just sold." explain Amber. "Tiffany sold a television and got Lester to put the installation in for today. He has been gone for five hour now."

"Holy crap. Lester will be too busy on the installation to do his five service calls." reasons Jake.

"Yep. This sale that she is making will be number 4 for her." said Amber.

"Lester did not even have a chance." said Jeff with a sad face.

Tiffany starts to walk away from the man and walk up to the Nerd Herd desk.

"Guess what?" ask Tiffany

"We know." acknowledge Jeff.

"Exactly. It is number four. I have this challenge all wrapped up. There is no way that Lester comes back from behind." said Tiffany with a smile.

The store's door open and everyone turn to see who is walking in. Lester is walking with a bag hanging from his shoulder.

Tiffany's smile grows at the sight of him.

"Hey, Lester. How was the installation?" mock Tiffany as Lester walk up to the desk.

"Bravo. Bravo. It was pretty ingenious of making me the one to do the installation." said Lester as he starts to clap.  
"Well, what can I say?" said Tiffany with a smile. Lester stops clapping.

"Taking me out for an hour. That was pretty good of you." remarks Lester with a smile."

"Didn't you guys say that he has been gone for five hours?" ask Jake to Amber and Jeff.

"I did." said Amber. Jeff looks at Lester with confusion. Tiffany's smile disappears.

"Have I been gone that long?" ask Lester with an innocent look.

"Yeah." said Jeff.

"Jeez. I must have lost track of time. I mean, I have been getting calls all days." said Lester as he put the bag of tool on the floor.

"Wait. Did you say calls?" ask Tiffany.

"Well, someone decided to re route all the service calls to my cell. So, I have been on service calls almost all day." said Lester.

"So that is why we have not been getting any calls." said Jeff as he looks at the phone.

Tiffany looks at Lester.

"You rerouted those calls." said Tiffany to fully comprehend the situation.  
"Yes, I did. Once I realize what you did to me, I simply used it to my advantage. I have been getting the service calls, sweetheart." Lester reaches in his bag and pulls out three forms. "In my hand are three satisfactory service calls. Add that to the one I got this morning and you have four. Like the song said, Can't touch this."

"Well, I just sold four television set while you have been gone. So, I guess that I can." counter Tiffany as she approach Lester.

"Guess it is going to come down to the last minute of the day. Think you can handle that?" ask Lester as he stand his ground against the secret agent.

"Lester, I can handle anything. So why don't you bring it?" said Tiffany.

"You are on." counter Lester as he walks away from Tiffany, who walks back to her customer.

"Wow. If I did not know better, I would think that they were having sex with each other." said Jake.

"If they had sex, Tiffany would have killed Lester." said Amber.

"Yeah. Lester is like a porcelain doll." said Jeff. Amber and Jake both look at Jeff because of his statement. After five seconds, they both walk away from Jeff.

* * *

"OK, we should be fine. The air is pure. We can take off out helmets." said Jenny as she starts to takes off her helmet.

Chuck takes off his helmet with some hesitation.

"According to the readings, the air is pure, but something did happened." said a concern female Time Lord.

"Like what?" ask Chuck as he put the helmet down on the floor.

"Just like the alert said, a biological attack occurred."

"So, where did everyone go?" ask Chuck. Jenny looks at the screen and taps the screen two times.

"According to the computer, everyone on the station is still here." answer Jenny with a puzzled look.

"You have to be kidding me. It is like a ghost town out there. If they are still here, where are they now?" reason Chuck.  
"According to the computer, they are in their rooms." answer Jenny.  
"Are they alive?"

"According to the system, yes."

"I really have a bad feeling about this. How long has it been since this attack happened?" ask Chuck.

"It occurred about a week ago, almost a month after I left." reply a curious Jenny. "Can you give me a minute?"

"Sure." Chuck walk away from Jenny as she start to tap on the computer screen. He figures that she is looking for some answers. Since she is not giving up the chair, Chuck could not help.

Chuck starts exploring the security offices. He sees different desks. He sits down on a chair by one of the desks. A 3-D hologram appears on the desk. Chuck look at the hologram. It is a picture of a woman and a guy holding each other. Chuck look at it. There was no mistaken the love in their eyes. They did look like a couple.

Chuck look at it for a minute. It reminds him of his own picture with Sarah.

Chuck gets up from the chair and resumes his exploration of the room. He walks further in the room and sees a cabinet. He tries to open it up to find it locked. He looks at the door knob to see that it had a number pad lock. He could feel the flash coming again and let it happen.

After the flash, he presses the number combination that appears in his mind. The cabinet door unlocks and Chuck opens it up. The cabinet is filled with guns. Considering that Chuck is in a different century, Chuck figured it is lasers.

"_Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation."_ said a voice in his head.

* * *

"_No." said Chuck as he looks at John Casey. John Casey is wearing the green polo shirt and Chuck is wearing his Nerd Herd uniform._

_They are in newly constructed Castle underneath the Orange Orange, and John is showing Chuck his guns, which is laid out on the table._

"_Look, Chuck. If I am going to be your handler, you need to know these things."_

"_Why? Remember I am just an asset. I am not that important." said Chuck._

_John Casey looks at Chuck with annoyance._

"_OK, So I am important. But who is going to figure out that I have all the nation's secrets in my head." counter Chuck._

_John looks at Chuck and did not hide how his annoyance is growing._

"_OK. Fine. Seriously. Who would have thought that the Pita girl was a spy? I know you didn't. That has been a month ago and there have not been any incidents since then. When one thinks about it, when am I going to need to use a gun?" argues Chuck to John Casey.  
"Chuck. If there ever comes a time when we can't protect you, you need to know what to do." answers John Casey.  
"Handling guns is going to do that?"  
"Of course not. But it will stop you from doing something stupid like pointing it the wrong direction." answer John to his asset. Chuck shows his discomfort._

"_I just don't like guns." said Chuck._

"_Are you kidding me? You play those shooter games all the time with Morgan." answers John to his asset._

"_Video games are different from the real ones. People can get kill from gun. No one really dies in video games."_

"_Huh."_

"_What?"_

"_Sometimes I forget that you have common sense." Remark John Casey._

"_Thanks."_

"_Look. I am not saying that we going to turn you into an agent. God helps us if that happens. What I am trying to say is that you should at least be somewhat knowledgeable on what to do if you have to use one. If there is one thing I learn during my time is this: Things happen and we should be prepare for it." explains Casey._

"_Are you kidding me?"  
"No, I am not. I am not Walker. I don't see the world in rosy glasses. What are you going to do if I get killed or if Sarah is hurt? What are you going to do then?" ask John Casey._

"_I never really thought about it." answers Chuck._

"_Well, you should. Let's be completely honest with ourselves. We have been very lucky in our assignments thus far. But, all it would have taken is one tiny detail to be forgotten and all of those assignments could have been our death. We have to stop relying on luck. I just want to make sure that you are somewhat ready. Do I make myself clear, Chuck?"_

"_OK." said Chuck as he looks at the guns lay out. "Just remember that I did protest about this." _

"_Sure." said John as he picks up the first gun to show to Chuck._

* * *

Chuck look at the guns in the cabinet and take two of them out. He looks at it and saw a switch. He looks at it and it said kill. Chuck turns the small knob, which is on the side of the gun. The switch lettering turn into the word: stun.

"Ok. This is good." said Chuck as he switches the other gun setting.

"What do we have here?" said Jenny from the other room. Chuck open up the bag that he has been carrying. He put the guns in the bag, closes it, and walks over to Jenny.

"What's wrong?" ask Chuck.  
"I just found a video send during the same time as the attack." explain Jenny.

Jenny presses the icon. A 3-D hologram appears.

"Crap." said Chuck when he sees the image of the 3-D video hologram.

Major Tom appear in front of the two them

"Hello, I am Major Tom. If you are seeing this, it means that you are the sole survivors of the attack. If you look at the wanted feeds, you will see that I am a wanted criminal. Number 7 on the list. But, let's not talk about me. Let's talk about your situation.

"At this moment, you are probably wondering what has happened on the station. This station has been gassed with a very toxic vapor. This vapor will spread all over this station though the gas vents. Within a few minutes, individuals would experience an intense pain. It will make them revert to a feral state of mind.

"They would not recognize friend to foe. That is when things get interesting. You see, everyone that has been affected by the vapor will start attacking those who has not been affect. If those people get bitten, let's just say that they also get infected. They too will go into a feral state.

"If I did my math right, the whole station will be affect within three hours." said Major Tom with a smile on his face.

"Oh my god." said Chuck.

"This whole station will be filled with some very angry, violent individuals. Chaos and mayhem will ensue. Of course, I am not a ruthless heartless man. I did construct a cure. I placed the cure in the center of the station. It is in a big white box with a red button on top of it. That is where all the air vents are located at. All you have to do is get there and press the red button. That will release the cure in the air vents and everyone will be cured.

"What is the catch?" ask Jenny, knowing how Major Tom thinks.

"If you are wondering there is a catch, there is. Everyone in this altered state of mind will be protecting it. They will guard it. Of course, I did put about five hundred of these individuals in that area. Oh, I did not mention that everyone is still alive. I hope you were not thinking that they were dead.

"If you are a normal person, I would recommend that you walk away until you get a security force. Even then, I would not recommend dealing with these people. I would almost guarantee that the security force would be ripped from limb from limb." said Major Tom.

"If you are watching this Jenny, I really hope you try to save them. I really want to see you try." smile Major Tom as he signs off.

"Great." said Chuck as he sits down. "Even in the 51st century, he is still a big ass.

Jenny leads back on the chair and stares at the computer, thinking on her next move.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Sarah Walker wakes up with a headache and lying on a bed. She looks around the room that she is in. She sees that she is in a bedroom. For a brief moment, Sarah Walker thought that she was in Chuck's room. There are so many pop cultures things in the room. There are movie posters hanging on the walls. She sees a computer, television set with the latest video game console that she never gotten around in remembering the name of, and graphic novels that did not interested her. She slowly straightens up and could see DVDs for Chuck's favorite movies. Once she actually looks at that the posters on the wall, Sarah Walker realizes that the posters are different from the ones that she is used to seeing. She slowly remembers the events that occurred.

"How are you feeling?" asks a female voice. Sarah Walker instantly tries to grab a knife underneath the bed. When she realizes that there was nothing there, Sarah almost panics. She looks at the owner of the female voice, prepared for anything. There is a woman sitting in a chair with a concern look on her face. She is wearing t-shirt and jeans.

"Relax. I am Martha Jones-Smith. I am Mickey's wife." answers Martha to Sarah when she realizes that Sarah is freaking out by Martha's presences.  
"You're Mickey's wife?" ask Sarah.

"Yes." confirms Martha.

"How did you get here?" ask Sarah as she focus on Martha.  
"It is a little complicated for me to explain at this moment. Let's just say that Chuck brought me here." explains Martha to the blonde spy.

"Oh." Sarah lowers her guard. She did remember Chuck and the woman appearing in the room at the same time. For the life of her, Sarah could not remember the two arriving.  
"What do you remember about the fight?" ask Martha.

"Nothing really, other then I got my butt kicked. Major Tom was winning until….Chuck arrived. I think I passed out after that." remembers Sarah.  
"Well, you did pass out. You were poisoned by Major Tom. I gave you an antidote for it before you passed out. You have been sleeping ever since then." said Martha.  
"Is Chuck alright?" ask Sarah.  
"I don't know."

"What?"

"Again, it is complicated. Let's just go with I do not know at this moment. Your friend, Chuck is with Jenny." said Martha.  
"OK. Major Tom, did we get him?" ask a frustrated agent.  
"No. He got away. If I had to take a guess, he is probably still chasing after Jenny and Chuck." explain Martha.

"I got to help Chuck." said Sarah as she slowly gets out of bed. Martha gets up from her side of the bed and approach Sarah Walker. Martha moves the bed cover to look at Sarah's legs. She places her focus back on Sarah.

"I do not think so, Agent Walker. At least not without my say so."  
"No offense, Ms. Smith, but there is nothing you can do to stop me." said Sarah as she starts to scan the room for some pants to put on.  
"No offense, Ms. Walker. But there is nothing you can do to stop me. I am a doctor. Do you know what that means? It means that I have enough drugs at my fingertips to put you out for the rest of the year and there would be nothing you can do to stop me." answers Martha Jones. Sarah Walker stops as she looks at the doctor.

"I need to help Chuck." said Sarah as she gives the doctor a cold stare.

"Well, at this moment, I don't know where he is and I don't know if you would be any good to him." answer Martha with her own stern stare.

"I am good for him."

"Really?"

"I have been in worse shape then this, Ms. Smith. I have fought stronger men. I have dealt with world threatening situation with Chuck. We save the world while you lived your life. Sorry, but I am not going to be stuck here in this bed when Chuck is still out there with no back up. He needs me. I will do whatever it takes to help him." explains Agent Walker, making sure that she shows Martha Jones how serious she is.

"You do have one problem."  
"What?"  
"Your legs." points out Martha. Sarah looks at her leg to see that they are green.

"What?"

"You still have some of that toxin in you. The coloration on your legs is the result of the toxin interacting with the antidote. Since your legs are green at this moment, it means that you wouldn't be able to walk. You still have two more hours before you would be able to walk." explains Martha.

"No." said Sarah when the realization hit her that Martha did speak the truth.

"Relax. You will be fine in a few more hours."  
"But, I can't stay here."  
"Trust me. Even if you could walk, you can not go where Chuck is."

Sarah felt a wave of frustration coming over her.

"Agent Walker. I understand how you are feeling. Trust me. I get that feeling too when I am not with Mickey." said Martha, hoping that Sarah will listen to reason.

"Really?"

"Mickey and I sometime have missions without each other. I always get a pit in my stomach when I know that it is a dangerous mission." explains Martha.

"How do you deal with it?" ask Sarah.

"I deal with it by inflicting all my frustration on something or someone." smile Martha. Sarah chuckles at the joke. "The truth is that I accepted the fact that I will always have this sense of dread. I also accepted the fact that Mickey is not stupid. He knows what he is doing. You should do that. From what I have gather just within the minutes that I was with Chuck, he does not strike me as being stupid."  
Sarah looks down on the floor with an unease silence.

"For the first two years that I known Chuck, I was his handler and he was my asset to protect. I had to protect him from everything and everyone. Now, he is an agent. You know how hard it is for me not to see him like an asset." said Sarah. "Now add the fact that I love him, tell me how I am supposed to not do everything I can to do to be by his side."  
"You have to accept the fact that you can't always be there with him. You have to accept that this situation is beyond anyone's control at this moment." answers Martha.  
"I really have no idea what is going on. I don't like it." said Sarah.

"Get some rest, Agent Walker. Once you are feeling better, I will tell you everything. We have finally piece together the whole picture." said Martha.

"The whole truth?" ask Sarah.

"Yes, the whole truth." said Martha.

Sarah positions herself in bed and accepts her role at the moment.

* * *

"Oh my God!" said Chuck as he watch the video.

"We do have a problem." said Jenny as she watches the video.

After watching Major Tom's video a second time, Jenny looked thru the security files to find the security video on the day when the level 10 quarantine was enforced. What they saw was the event that happened afterward. What they saw was something else that they did not expect.

The fact is that Major Tom told the truth about the situation. It was exactly how he described on how the situation would go down. People were being infected by the gas. People were attacking each other. More people got infected. The chaos that Jenny said that could happen during a level 10 quarantine actually did happened.

The shocking part was the brutality of the attacks. That was what took them by surprised.

Chuck step away from the 3-D hologram. He took enough steps to not see the video hologram.

"Problem! That is putting it mildly!" said Chuck.  
"OK. We have a situation." corrects Jenny as she stops the video.  
"Really? What we just saw is not cool. It is exactly how Major Tom said it would be. Everyone on this station is infected." explains Chuck.

"True, but you are forgetting the good news." points out Jenny to her companion.

"Good news? Oh, I would love to hear the good news." said Chuck. Jenny turns off the security feed and continue to explore the files on the station's computer.

"Chuck, they are confined on this space station. There is no way for them to infect anyone else. Two, there is a cure. As much as it pains me to say this, Major Tom did set up an actual cure. If for anything else, a cure would help Major Tom in case he got infected. The cure that he mentioned is very real. So, I do believe him when he said that he did put a cure on the station. Beside, you are forgetting the best news of all."  
"What's that?"  
"We are here. We can help." said Jenny with a smile. "Who are we kidding? We are going to save everyone."

"OK." Chuck takes a breath. The confidence in Jenny is overwhelming. If he did not share her enthusiasm, Chuck was pretty sure that she would make sure that he would one way or another. "Fine. What do we do now?"

"Honestly. We focus on one thing at a time. We still have a luxury cruiser that still needs fuel. We need to get to the dock and find out how is the fuel. I want to make sure that it is not contaminated. Once we know that it is not contaminated, we have to find a way to get the fuel on the cruiser. We then have to think up a way to get to the box to release the antidote. Once release, we can plan our way back home." explains Jenny to Chuck.

"Wow. You make it sound so simple." said Chuck as he absorb Jenny's plan.

"It is. It is the details that will complicate things." said Jenny as she turns the computer off.

"Oh, great."

"Well, grab your bag, Chuck. It is time to leave. I want to cover as much ground as we can until everyone wakes up." said Jenny as she gets up from the chair.

Chuck look at his friend. He could feel his mind thinking at the statement.

"That's why they are in their rooms." said Chuck as his mind caught up with the Time Lord.

"Exactly. If the computer says that they are in their rooms, they have to be doing one thing. They are sleeping. If we can get to the other side of the station before they wake up, we will be in a better position then we are." explains Jenny.

Chuck grabs the bag, thanking God for John Casey's training.

"Then let's start moving." said Chuck.

Both individuals open the door and look around. The silence, while disarming, is still in the hallway. It still looks deserted.

"So, how long do you think that we have?" ask Chuck as the couple walk out of the room. They hear the door behind them shut.

"I don't know. If luck is on our side, we have two hours. That should be plenty of time for us to get to the other side of the station." reply Jenny.

Their walk increased with speed. When they heard a whooshing sound from behind them, they stop. Chuck gulp and Jenny's smile slowly goes away. Both individuals turn to see the cause of the sound.

It is a little girl wearing her Sunday's best dress. What caught the couple's eyes is the blood stains on the dress. She is dragging her teddy bear on the ground. Chuck could see the teddy bear has blood stain. Jenny did not notice that. She notices the blood on the little girl's face.

"Chuck." said Jenny in a quiet voice.

"Walk away very slowly." answers Chuck  
"Actually, Walk very quickly and quietly." corrects Jenny as both individuals walk backwards.

The girl turns around the opposite direction then the couple. Chuck let out a breath of relief. When the girl walks the opposite direction, Chuck could feel his confidence grow a bit. The little girl drops her teddy bear. The couple keeps walking. The girl stop walking when she realizes that she drops her bear. She turns around and walks back to her teddy bear.

She stops and looks straight at Jenny and Chuck.

"Uh oh." said Chuck.

What made Chuck scary is not the fact that there is blood stain on the girl's mouth or her hair look like it has not been combed. It is her eyes.

They are blood red and they look angry.

"What now?" ask Chuck.

"Keep walking. With any luck, she realizes that we are not a threat and will let us go." answers Jenny.

The girl starts to yell.

Both Jenny and Chuck cringes.

"OK, that can't be good." remarks Chuck.

"You know what I said about walking quietly." said Jenny.

"Scratch that idea and run." figures Chuck.

"Yep."

They both turn around and start running. As they run, they could hear more whooshing sounds of the rooms' doors opening. Chuck did not even have to guess what is happening.

The yelling is waking everyone up.

They did not look at what is happening behind them. Jenny and Chuck kept running forward.

Both Jenny and Chuck smiles as they see the elevator doors from a distance.

Hope dies a little when Chuck sees another crowd of infected people closing their way to the elevator.

"Oh no." said Chuck.

"This is going to complicate things." mention Jenny.  
Chuck starts to look around. The infected are coming out of their rooms and starting to chase them.

"Any ideas?" asks Chuck.

"Escape route is blocked and we are surrounded. We could surrender." said Jenny.

"Didn't Major Tom say that they will tear us up?" mentions Chuck as he sees that he is running out of room to run.

"Yep."

"Not good."

Chuck reach inside the bag and take out the guns.

"We are not going to make it." said Chuck as he let the flash happen.

"Yes, we are, Chuck."

"I'll distract them while you get to the elevator. You check on the fuel and I will go for the antidote." commands Chuck as he prepares to take his shots. Jenny turns to see her friend.

"That is a horrible idea."

"Do you have another idea?" ask Chuck.  
"Give me a minute." said Jenny.  
"Twenty seconds from now, we will run out of room to run and will be surrounded by everyone." Chuck takes off the bag from his shoulders and tosses it to Jenny. "We don't have time for another idea."

"This is a bad idea."  
"No argument here. Just get to the fuel supply." said Chuck.

Chuck stop running beside Jenny, turns around with the guns in his hand and start to fire. The blasts hit the infected individuals. They fall onto the ground. Chuck starts to turn around in a 360 degree. He continues to fire at all the infected. He clears a path for the female Time Lord. Jenny runs up to the elevator as the elevator door open.

Chuck continue to fire at the infected from trying to approach the elevator. Chuck keeps moving to prevent from any of the infected in grabbing him. Chuck did not have any hope in reach toward the elevator door and he did not think otherwise. He just wants to make sure that Jenny did not have anyone trying to stop her.

Jenny's frightened face is the last thing that Chuck sees from Jenny as the elevator doors close.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

_ "Dude, what's next on our list." ask Morgan he walks to the kitchen._

_ It is a Saturday night for the best friends. No Buy More, No sister, No mom. Just two buddies sitting in the living room watching their favorite movies with their favorite foods. For Chuck, it is the classic butter popcorn with an ice cold Coke. For Morgan Grimes, it is a fully loaded pizza and grape soda. _

_ "Don't know, buddy?" answer Chuck. Chuck is sitting on the couch with a pile of DVD beside him. On the floor, there are DVDs that they watched or they choose not to watch. The DVDs beside Chuck are the ones that they have not watched. Chuck picks up one of the DVD on top of the pile and look at it. "We have the classic Die Hard."_

_ "Like the Bruce Willis, but I am not feeling it tonight." said Morgan as he opens up the refrigerator. He takes out another can of grape soda and closes the refrigerator. Chuck put the DVD on the floor and takes another DVD._

_ "How about Out of Sight?" ask Chuck.  
"I am getting burn out on that J-Lo stuff. She is like everywhere now. I can't even go to the store without seeing her face. What else do we have?" said Morgan as he walks back into the living room with his can of grape soda. Chuck puts the DVD on the floor and takes another DVD._

_ There is a pizza box with a half eaten pizza on a small table. Chuck has his empty bag of popcorn beside the box. Living with his sister did teach him one important lesson: Clean up your messes or there will be consequences. Keeping the mess near by helps Chuck to remember that._

_ "We got the classic Batman." continues Chuck._

_ "Adam West or Michael Keaton?" ask Morgan as he sits down on the chair beside the sofa.  
"Michael."_

_ "Getting warming." said Morgan as he opens up the can. Chuck put the DVD beside him and takes another DVD.  
"How about Night of the Living Dead?" ask Chuck._

_ "No thanks. You know how much I hate zombie movies." cringes the bearded man as he take another drink. _

_ "I have been meaning to ask you after all of these years. Why do you hate zombie movies and not vampire movies? I figure that you would like them." ask Chuck as he places all of his attention to one of the mysteries surrounding his best friend._

_ "I get nightmares about zombies."_

_ "Are you kidding me?" ask Chuck with a smile._

_ "Nope. I always had them since I was a little kid." said Morgan with a straight face that Chuck has never seen on his best friend._

_ "You are not kidding."_

_ "When I was a kid, my first scary movie had zombies. I can remember one scene that scarred me for life. It freaked me out so much that I could not eat hot dogs for a whole year." explains Morgan._

_ "How bad was the scene?" ask Chuck.  
"For my kid brain at the time, it was bad. I think it was a swarm of zombie attacking one person. They just rip him apart." answers Morgan as he shakes his head._

_ "That would be pretty intense. How old were you?" ask Chuck.  
"I think about five."  
"Yep. That would do it."  
"It wasn't until I got older that I could handle scary movies. Actually, I think it was when we saw….one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies together that I was able to handle them. But zombies. I never out grew that."  
"How come?"  
"It is because you can't stop them."  
"Isn't that a little pessimistic?" reply Chuck.  
"Think about it, dude. Zombie will always come back. Why? Because everyone will die." explains Morgan._

_ "Now you are being depressing."  
"Think about it. People die all the time. Whether it is a car crash, a shooting, or old age, it does not matter. Zombies will always be there because someone is dying right now. You can wipe out all the zombies in one day, but the next day I willing to bet you that a zombie will come back because someone died that day."_

_ "Thanks, Morgan. Now I am depressed."_

_ "I'm just saying. You can't beat a zombie. They don't feel, they don't tired, and they don't stop until they get you. Jason or Freddy don't have anything on the zombies." concludes Morgan for his argument. _

_ "So, if the big zombie apocalypse ever happens, what would you do?" ask Chuck to his best friend._

_ "Simple. Clear myself a path and run like hell." answers Morgan as he picks up a DVD that is lying on the floor. "You know what: I think I am in a mood for some Pet Detective."_

* * *

Chuck runs like there is no tomorrow.

The moment that the elevator closed, Chuck knew that he was by himself. Of course, it was his fault that he was in this situation.

It was not one of his best ideas. He will admit to this. Chuck figured that if he stayed with Jenny, the couple would become a bigger target for the infected. If separated, the numbers would be in their favor.

Chuck look at what is in front of him and realizes that he made a big mistake thinking that this situation could be in his favor. Whether it is hate or hunger in their eyes, Chuck could tell that there was no good intention on their minds. At that moment, he remembered that day when Morgan and him sat on the couch and talked about it.

Chuck fired at one of the infected that is ahead of him. He was going to only get one shot to actually see what happens when he shoots at one of the infected with the stun gun. Chuck did not pay attention earlier.

The man wearing the fancy suit fell to the ground as he was hit by the burst. Chuck watch and hope that he did not get up. After five seconds, Chuck place his focus on the rest of the infected and start to fire at them. While he would rather have a longer look, five seconds was all he had before he would have been overwhelm by the infected people.

Chuck jump over the unconscious person that he fired at.

Chuck did not bother playing the defiant gunslinger or the unmovable object. If all the zombie movies taught him something, it was this: the number game does mean something. One person vs. everyone on the station. His only option is to run.

Not one of his brightest plans, but it was the only one Chuck had. He can hear them chasing him. He sees an infected person coming out of his room and Chuck did not hesitate in zapping him. Chuck did not bother looking at where he is going. He still had the map memorize in his head. Chuck had an idea, but nothing more

Chuck run to the only place he knows: The security room.

* * *

Jenny walk out of the elevator frustrated.

While she walks, Jenny scans the area. She sees the pipes, air ducts, and electronic conducts in the area. Jenny knows exactly what this floor is to the station. The floor is simply the service floor. It is the area that all the maintenance personal use to access all the panel and duct. While this floor had lower ceilings and had a smell of oil, metal, and grease, it was also the area that had the strong possibility of not having anyone on the floor. This was the area that she was looking for on the computer.

"Why, Chuck?" said Jenny to no one in particular. "Why did you just not simply stay by my side? Instead you have to go play the hero. I had a plan. We would go and use the maintenance area. It would have been the fastest way to get to the other side of the station and the center of the station. If there are any infected individuals, it would not be the whole swarm. Instead you had to take the hard way. Why do you do that?'

Jenny walks in frustration. She heard noise from afar, but did not care. She kept walking.

"What is it about that man?" said Jenny. "He has to play the hero. I figure it would be out of his system by now. I bet it got worse now that he has that upgrade in his head."

Jenny turns the corner when she sees them. There are three maintenance men who had the look of being infected. There is rip clothes that they are wearing and blood stain all over them. They look at Jenny with their blood shot eyes.

"Seriously, I really do not have time for this." said Jenny as she walks toward them. They in turn start walking toward her.

Jenny stops her pace and simply stares at the infected. They walk toward her with evil intention.

"I really do not have time for this. So, listen very carefully because I will only say this once." said Jenny as the infected men walks toward her.

"STOP!" yells out Jenny. The infected stop walking. They look at her with fright.

"Move. Now." Jenny could feel it come out of her mouth. She could feel an icy coldness in the tone of her voice. They look at her. Jenny takes a step. In return, they take a step backward. With each step, Jenny takes, the infected take another step back. Finally, they ran away from her.

"At least someone is listening to me." said Jenny as she makes her way to her destination.

* * *

Tiffany sits in her car, staring at the Buy More. It is quiet and peaceful in the morning. There is a disappointment in her face. She takes another drink from her coffee, hoping that the black liquid would calm her nerves. Still, she did not get any relief.

"Are you alright?" ask Amber as she approach the car. Amber is holding her own cup of green tea.

Tiffany's car is not spy recommended. In fact, it did the opposite that all spies want a car to do. It attracts attention. For Tiffany, she did not care. It is her car. It is a red 1969 Dodge Charger that she rebuilt herself.

Tiffany lowers her car window.

"Yesterday, I lost." answer Tiffany as she stares at the store.  
"Yeah. I did not think that Lester had it in him to pull that off." ask Amber.

"I had it. Amber. I had the last customer filling out the paper work for the warranty and Lester pull out a last minute Hail Mary to beat me." said the disappointed Tiffany.

"I still can't believe it."

"Well, he won. He has beaten me twice. For the life of me, I don't know how he is doing it." ask Tiffany to her friend.

"I think I may have an idea." comment Amber as she stands beside the car.

"Tell me because I am running out of ideas." plead Tiffany to Amber.

"I think that you are not taking Lester seriously." said Amber as she sips her green tea.  
"What?"

"Look. The man is a big pervert. He may also come off as a big dork. He can be lazy. I will give you that. But I think that you are focusing on the wrong things about him."

"Really?"  
"Look. Lester has been here at the Buy More for a long time. It means that this is his home turf. He knows all the secrets and hiding places in that building. It also means that he knows what clientele is coming into that store. He is also smart. You can't deny that. He can do everything that Chuck can. He chooses not to. I think that Lester is right." explains Amber.

"You think I don't take him seriously?" concludes Tiffany.

"I really don't think you do. I mean, we are trained to handle killers, sociopaths, psychopaths, and terrorists. But a Nerd Herd specialist? Why would you take him serious?" point out Amber.

Tiffany nods her head in agreement.

"I thought so. Well, he is using it to his advantage. While you see someone that is not worth your attention, he is taking you seriously. While he sees a management trainee, he is not taking any chances on your own abilities. He does not know what you can and cannot do. He does not know you had military training. He does not know that you can kick everyone's ass in that building. He does not know how much you hate a dirty car. But he is not taking any chances or making any assumption on what you can do. He is going to the win at all cost. You are not." explain Amber.  
"You're saying that I am not going for the win."  
"I'm saying that you are not trying your best because you think he is not going to win. He is winning because he thinks he is going to win. What you need to do is this: You have to treat him like a target."  
"Really?"  
"You are going to be an agent. Start acting like one and treat him like a serious threat." said Amber.

Tiffany nods her head and smile.

"I should."

"You will." command Amber.

"Thanks, Amber. I need to hear that." said Tiffany.

Tiffany gets out of the car and walk in the Buy More with her friend.

* * *

Chuck's plan is hitting road blocks. In his case, a swarm of people are blocking his way. He had been firing and hitting the infected ever since he started to run away from them.

With the numbers growing, the once deserted hallways start to feel crowded. He can see how people develop claustrophobia. As he runs, Chuck tries to remember the layout of the station. The chasing mob did not help his concentration.

Chuck already missed the entrance to the security room. With the mob chasing after him, Chuck could not double back. He had to continue to run forward.

When he sees double doors, Chuck did not know if he should be relieved or scared. With no time to figure out his feelings, he simply pushes open the doors.

His heart skips a bit when he realizes that he just walk into the cafeteria of the station.

The area looks like a mess. Tables are on their sides. Chairs look like they have been flung. There are smears of different colors on the walls. Chuck did not know if it was food or something else. This is what Chuck thought he was going to see when he got on the space station. Now, Chuck wish for the cleanliness that he was earlier.

Without thinking about it, he turns around and closes the doors. He turns the lock on the doors and start walking up to the tables. As he walks, he could hear the slams on the door.

The single slams turns into numerous slams on the door. Chuck moves the table, which is heavier then Chuck thought it would be, and lean it against the door. Without thinking about it, he walk up to the next table and did the same thing.

Within minutes, the entrance of the door of the cafeteria is blocked by a pile of tables and chairs.

Chuck stare at what he did for a moment. If for anything else, it allows him to catch his breath.

_"Secure the area, idiot."_ said the voice in his head. Chuck smile at the thought. Even in a different century, he could hear John Casey's voice in his head.

He looks at his gun. Chuck wish he had the instruction on the device. At least, he would know how many shots he had left in the gun.

He starts scanning the area. The eating area just looks like a mess. He did not want to imagine what happened here when the gas was released in the station. Once Chuck felt confident about the area, he walks toward the kitchen, leaving behind the slamming on the door. Chuck had his gun ready in case someone comes out.

As he walks through the kitchen doors, Chuck sees the same scene as he did outside. The kitchen is a wrecked with pots and pans all over the floor. Liquid has hardened on various areas in the kitchen. Chuck did not bother thinking about it. As he continues to walk the kitchen with his gun ready, Chuck looks for another entrance and exit.

While it would give him small comfort to know that there is no way in, it frightened Chuck to think that there is no way out. It frightened him more to think about how long the door can hold up against the mass of infected people.

"Alright. How am I going to help Jenny if I am stuck in the cafeteria?" ask Chuck as he look around the area.

He opens up the refrigerator door, hoping that he is not going to see a head. Chuck let out a sigh of relief when he saw the refrigerator filled with fruit. He takes out an apple and starts to eat it.

Chuck closes the door and continues to make sure that he is the only one in the kitchen. His confidence grew a little since no one is pop up to eat his brains. With the noise that he is making eating the apple, Chuck let his guard down a little bit.

When he finishes the walk thru, Chuck walk back into the cafeteria and sits down on one of the chair.

He stares at the door as he continues to hear the slamming. He finishes the apple and put the core down beside the chair.

It is a scary thought to think that they know that Chuck is in the room.

Each hit onto the door scare Chuck with a thought: That hit could be the hit that breaks the door down and let in the swarm of people.

"C'mon. Think." said Chuck, knowing that would not help. He felt a breeze. Chuck look around, hoping that he did not miss something. He gets up from his chair.

"Tell me that the slamming is not a distraction." Chuck starts looking around for the origin of the breeze.

Chuck look up and he realizes where the breeze was coming from. He smile and could not believe that he did not think about it. It is an air duct. That is where the air is coming from and it is his way out of this cafeteria.

At least he hopes it is.

Chuck grabs one of the remaining chairs that was not blocking the door and places it underneath the air duct. He gets up on the chair to look into the air duct. The air duct look like it is big enough for him to fit into. It brings a smile to his face. Chuck jump off the chair and runs back into the kitchen.

He looks around for the infamous crap drawer, the drawer where everyone would put tools, candy, phone numbers, sewing needles, and various stuffs that simply had nowhere else to be.

Chuck start to open the drawers that he can find.

He finds knife, spoons, forks and other silver ware.

He finds spices and dry fruit.

Chuck finally finds the crap drawer and start looking for a screwdriver.

A smile emerges on Chuck's face when he finds a lone screwdriver.

Chuck runs back to the cafeteria area. He nearly trip over the chair as he gets on it. He starts to unscrew the gate as he hears the slamming on the door. Chuck could not help himself as he start to unscrew faster.

Chuck grabs the gate and places it on the ground. He looks at the duct, wondering how he is going to get up there. The duct is vertical about another 4 feet. No matter how much he would want to, Chuck knew that he could not jump that.

He looks at his boots and smiles at the realization that the air duct is metal.

Chuck found his way out of the cafeteria.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"How are you feeling?" ask John Casey as he approach his partner.

Sarah Walker is sitting on the couch wearing what would have been Chuck's clothes: A long t shirt and jeans. John is carrying two bottle waters. It is morning and Martha Jones and Mickey Smith are still asleep. For the two agents, they simply woke up early out of habit.

During the early days of protecting Chuck, morning was their time. Whether it is because of a mission or late hours at the Buy More, Chuck slept in a lot during that time. For the agents, it allowed them to meditate, to get shopping done, to decompress by working out in the gym, or to simply catch up on paper work. Even with Chuck becoming a full fledged agent, they kept their routine of waking up early.  
"I just feel like my brain just got blown away." reply Sarah as she moves aside to give her partner room to sit down beside her.

Martha Jones told Sarah the truth. She told Sarah that aliens exist. She told Sarah that humans are not the most advanced civilization on Earth, much less than the universe. Martha told Sarah where Chuck could be and who Jenny really is. After that conversation, Sarah had to take a shower just to clear her head and wrap her head around the truth. After such a conversation, Sarah Walker did not get any sleep.

"Hmph." said John in a grunt as he gives Sarah the bottle water.

"How about you?" ask Sarah as she takes the bottle, open it and drink some water.  
"What about me? I'm fine." said John as he stares at the broken television. He does not remember how, but the television got broken during their fight with Major Tom.  
"Seriously?" ask Sarah in disbelief.

"Why wouldn't I be?" ask John.

"You mean to tell me that you are going to accept the fact that there are aliens living on Earth?" ask Sarah. This time she is placing her full focus on John Casey.  
"Yeah." answers John.

"How can you?" said Sarah wondering how John Casey can accept this fact.

"Walker. This job is a game changer. We always seem to get something that changes how we see the world. If you asked me six years ago that I would be protecting a man who had all of the nation's secrets in his head, I would have told you that you were nuts. Guess who the idiot?" Sarah chuckles at John Casey's joke. "In order to do my job, I have to accept the truth at anytime and move on."

Sarah let out a small smile. Of all the things in the world that Sarah can count on, she can count on John Casey and Chuck in being her rocks in the midst of the chaos and craziness of her life.  
"So, what are we going to do?" ask Sarah.

"What we have to do. We put all of our hopes on Chuck and pray that he come back." answers John as he takes a drink from his bottle water.

"I hate not being with him." remark Sarah.

"I know, but he's a good agent, Walker." reassures John to his partner.

"I know."

"I don't think you do sometimes."

"No. I do, but I forget." admits Sarah.

"Well stop it." John Casey looks at his partner. "Even before the Intersect, Chuck was smart. He was the only person who would use a virus from a porn site to disarm a bomb. With the Intersect and training, he is very good. So stop worrying about him."

"OK." said the reassured agent.

"C'mon, let's get going. We have morons to teach." remind John Casey to his partner as he gets up from the sofa.

"I completely forgot about them." said Sarah as she slowly get up from the sofa.

"Well, you have been asleep for a couple of days."

* * *

Morgan stares at Tiffany, who seems calm. Being around John Casey, Morgan knows what that means. Tiffany is not playing around.

Morgan scheduled a mini meeting between the 'combatants' in Chuck's office. Since Morgan knew what could happen in the meeting, Morgan scheduled the meeting before he open the store up for the day.

Morgan turns to the chair beside Tiffany. It is empty. Tiffany, being the good agent, is on time. Lester, being Lester, is still not here.

"Give him a couple more minutes. He'll be here." said Tiffany.

"I know. I really did not expect him to be on time anyway." said Morgan.

If on cue, Morgan and Tiffany could hear Lester singing as he walk into the store. Both Morgan and Tiffany could recognize the song that Lester is singing: Frank Sinatra's song "My Way." Morgan looks at his watch. Thankfully, they still had a couple of minutes before they had to open the store. Morgan looks at the doorway to see Lester walking in the office. There is a swagger in how Lester is walking.

"Hello, Morgan." said a very confident Lester as he walk in the office.  
"Lester." answers Morgan.

"Can you feel it?" ask Lester as he stretches his arm. It is like he is basking in the glow of a spring sunny morning.

"Feel what?" answers Tiffany.

"Can you feel the heat?" said Lester with confidence.

"Should I?" ask Tiffany.  
"You should, because I am on fire." answers Lester. Morgan shakes his head in frustration. If only Lester knew who he was actually dealing with.

Lester slides pass Tiffany and sit down on the empty chair.

"Alright. Let get this meeting going." said Morgan as he looks at the two individuals. "Sorry, Tiffany. I have to make yesterday's victory official. Lester won. So, Lester is leading 1-0 over Tiffany.

Tiffany nods while Lester smiles his grin.

"Now for today's contest, it will be slightly different. Yesterday, simply prove that you are good at your job. Let's be honest. It was scary on how good both of you are in your job. I know several people here are shocked. So, today will be different. You will be doing the same thing that you did yesterday, but with a twist." explains Morgan. He could not help but try to keep his smile from forming.

"What? Are you saying that I have to sell 5 plasma TVs and Lester has to get 5 satisfactory on his customer reviews?" asks Tiffany wondering what is the twist.

"Not exactly." said Morgan as he looks up at the doorway to see Jeff and Jesse at the doorway. "Hey, come in."

"Are we early?" ask Jesse as she scan the office. Seeing Tiffany and Lester put a confused look on her face.

"Not at all. C'mon on in." Jesse and Jeff walk in the office and stand behind their friends. Morgan can see the confused faces on all four individuals.

"Jesse and Jeff, we have a problem. Jesse, your problem is your sale goal. You have not sold a single item since the grand re opening." points out Morgan.

"Oh." said Jesse, who did seem surprised by this conversation.

"Yeah. It does not look good if a _management trainee_ can't sell an item." explains Morgan.

"Oh, I have just been distracted. You know, with the things we discussed about." answers Jesse in a vague way.

"I know. They can't be avoided. That I do understand. However, we need to make sure that your numbers are up to par with everyone else. If not, people tend to talk and notice." said Morgan, hoping that she understand the double meaning.

"Oh. I understand." said Jesse as she nods to Morgan. Morgan turns to Jeff.

"What?" answer the defensive Jeff.

"Jeff, I got a call from corporate."

"About?" asks Jeff.

"It seems that one of our customers called you in." explains Morgan.  
"Oh." answers the now disappointed Jeff.

"Yeah."

"How bad was it?" ask Jeff.

"Let's just say that it was not as bad as the last one." answers Morgan. Jeff simply looks at Morgan with some confusion. His eyes widen as he remembers.

"Oh, no. It was the lady with the peg leg, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." reply Morgan to Jeff. All three individuals look at Jeff wondering what he did.

"Am I suspended?" ask Jeff.

"No. I think it would help if you can get about five good customer reviews to show corporate that you are not a walking lawsuit waiting to happened." explains Morgan.

Lester's grin went away.

"Morgan. Please tell me that I am not going to do what you think that I am going to have to do." asks Lester.

"Probably not." answers Morgan. Morgan looks at Jeff and Jesse. "You two are going to get help today. Tiffany, you are going to help Jeff in getting five customer reviews."

"WHAT?" Tiffany could not help herself. This is something that she did not expect to have to do.

"Lester, you are going to help Jesse in selling five televisions."

"Are you serious?" ask Lester. "Sales is not even my department."

"It wouldn't be a challenge if I had you two do the same thing again, would it?" ask Morgan.

"CRAP!" said both Tiffany and Lester.

* * *

Jenny waits in the elevator. There is a bad song playing on this elevator, which she completely ignored.

Getting from one side of the station to the other side was not difficult. With almost no infected individuals blocking her way, it was a quick trip. The walk was a good thing for Jenny. The frustration went away with every step that she took. It gave her time to figure things out. By the time she reached the elevator on the other side of the station, she had 501 scenarios in her head on how to save the station and Chuck.

The elevator stops. Jenny assumes a defensive position. The doors open and Jenny is expecting that there would be trouble waiting for her. With only a calm, quiet hallway with a broken robot greeting her, Jenny is a little disappointed.

Jenny looks at the hallway with caution wrapped around with suspicion. The hallway is quiet. It is clean like the space station was before everyone woke up. The lights are bright enough to illuminate the hallway so no one can trip over their feet. There is only one door and it is at the end of the hallway.

"Well, that is odd." remarks Jenny as she walks out of the elevator and into the hallway. She looks around, expecting an infected person to jump out. After all, isn't that protocol in these situations? As she walks down the quiet hallway, Jenny scans the area. The cleanliness of this hallway still disturbed her. At least the robot shows that there were signs of life in this area.

Jenny bends down on one knee and look at the robot. She recognizes it as being a maintenance robot. It would secure ships on the dock, make minor repairs around the ship when the maintenance workers are occupied, or deliver a message. The robot looks like a little tank with its wheels on tracks. Jenny recognizes it as a similar design for a cartoon that she saw advertised during the 21st century except it is slightly taller. Jenny looks at the 'head' of the robot.

"Poor thing, It looks like someone crashes your brains." apologies Jenny to the broken robot. "Someone really did not like you."

Jenny gets up and stands in front of the robot.

"I have things to do, little robot. Once I am done, I will be back and put you together." promises the Time Lord. Jenny pats the head of the robot, turns around and places her focus on the door. With the broken robot in front of the door, it only confirms what she knew on where the doors could leads.

When the door automatically opens up to Jenny, her smile returns. She sees all the spaceships docked in their station. She has found the docking section for the space ships.

The docks for the space station Ithaca is able to hold 100 cruisers in various sizes. Most docks on space station were for refueling purposes and some minor repairs. It was separates from the general population for safety purposes. Jenny reasons that any infected individuals would not be here. It is not the reason that she is here.

The ships vary in sizes. There are spaceships as big as cruiser. There are hoppers, ships that simply hop to one planet to another. Jenny walks into the docking area with a small smile on her face.

As she keeps walking, she looks for one particular ship: Her ship. She was looking for the ship that she built from parts from various junkyards across the galaxies. She is looking for the ship that she flow off a planet to explore the universes. Jenny is looking for her ship that can travel through time and space even if it is a bumpy ride. The ship that can take her anywhere she wants even if during the trip she finds herself in the wrong time.

Jenny could not help but runs when she sees her ship. While it is smaller compared to the others, she would not trade it in for anything else. It stands right next to another luxury cruiser, which Jenny remembers from the last time that she was here.

"Hello, baby." said Jenny to her ship.

She stands underneath her ship.

"Code: Alpha, Omega, Hot chocolate, and Donna." yells out Jenny. A white light surrounds Jenny. Within seconds, she teleports from the docking area and reappears in her ship.

Jenny stands very still as a red beam of light scans her.

"Security protocols enacted. Scanning for identification." said a robotic voice. The red beam makes another pass on Jenny's body.

"Identification has been verified. Welcome back, Jenny." states the voice.

"Thanks, ship. We have a lot of things to complete and not a lot of time to do it."  
"What are your orders?"  
"Establish connections to the station's main computer. I want to have access to all aspects of the station." commands Jenny.

"Currently establishing connection. Please wait for a minute."  
Jenny looks around at her space ship. She smiles when she smells the metallic scent. She looks to her left to see her cockpit. The chair had to be the only original part on this ship. She knocked down a wall so she could see the engine and add more space. She look sat the dashboard which she confiscated from space pirates. She looks at the fuzzy dices that she found on a broken down truck on the side of the road during the 1980s. There is the windshield that was from a ship that she found on a dying planet. Jenny turn to her right and she looks at the Time Converter that she stole from a fallen alien ship that she had to quickly put in to save a newly met friend. She added some modification onto the Time Converter, which takes up a lot of space on her small ship. Off to the side is a big pile of trinkets and souvenirs. She smiles at all the trinkets that she picked up during her time traveling and saving civilizations.

"Connection is now established." said the computer that Jenny rescues from a dictator in the Gamma Galaxy.

"Scan all fuel cells on the docking station that is being stored here for any impurities." commands Jenny. She walks up to the pilot chair and sits down.  
"Everything specific?" ask the computer.

"The station had been hit with a level 10 biological attack. I want to know if the fuel has been infected by anything that may harm a ship or the individuals on the ship." reply Jenny as she takes a seat on her pilot chair.

"Scanning all fuel cells at the moment. Completion of the task within three hours."

"OK. Activate security scanners. I want to make sure that Major Tom has not laid out anymore surprises on you." commands Jenny.

"Scanning." said the ship's voice. Jenny leans back in her chair hoping that there are no surprises. "Scanning is completed. No foreign items on the ship."

"Good. Now activate the station's scanners. I am looking for any uninfected individuals."

"Currently scanning the station."

Jenny pulls up the fueling stations and look at the blueprints on them. This is where it may be complicated. With a level 10 protocols, all ships on the dock are lock down to prevent anyone from leaving the station. The problem that Jenny figured that she would have is to take the fuel cells of the station and onto the luxury cruiser. Teleportation is not an option with the fuel cells. Teleportation made the fuel too unstable. Her only option is to physically move the fuel cells from the station and onto the cruiser. Thankfully, she made her ship capable of doing the upcoming task.

"All individuals have been located."

"OK. How many uninfected individuals left on the station."

"Currently two." Jenny breathes a sigh of relief at the news.  
"Does that include me?"  
"Correct."

"Where is the other individual?"  
"That individual is currently in the air ducts of the station."

"Any cameras in that location?"  
"No."

"Great. I do not even know if it is him or not. Fine. Moving on." said Jenny hoping that it was Chuck and he does not do anything stupid. "Ship, establish contact with the luxury cruiser, Odysseus."

"Contacting the ship." reply the ship's computer.

For three seconds, there is silence.

"This is the Captain." reply the grumpy voice.

"Captain, it is Jenny." answers Jenny.

"I was not expecting to hear your voice so soon." Jenny could hear the surprises in the Captain's voice.

"Well, I have news and it is not good."

* * *

Chuck cuss to himself as he knock the air duct cover off. It crashes into the security room. Noise is the enemy of any spy who is sneaking into a room.

Chuck look down onto the security room. He slowly pops his head out of the opening and look around. He thanks God for John Casey and Sarah Walker. Their training allowed him to look at a room upside down without being fazed by the disorientation.

He looks around the area. If there were any infected individuals in the room, they would have been on him by now. After two minutes hanging upside down, Chuck let out a sigh of relief.

Chuck pulls himself up back into the air duct. He maneuvers his body so he can slide down the air duct feet first. Chuck slides through the opening and land on the floor. He shakes off some of the dirt on him. Chuck look at his watch. It took him too long to crawl in the air duct. While it is big enough for him to crawl into and escape from the cafeteria, he had to move slow enough to not make any noise. Chuck did not want to under estimate the intelligence in the infected people.

He figured that he had about five minutes until someone tries to get into this room. With all the banging that he did, Chuck did not want to assume no one heard him.

Chuck look around the area. Like the previous security room that he was in with Jenny, it had desks with computers on it. It had a locker in another room that he can see.

Chuck take out one of his blaster out of its holster. He walks to the locker, hoping no one will attack him. He let out his sigh of relief to see no one is there. He approaches the lock and press four number, hoping that it is the code from the previous locker is the same as this one.

Chuck got his answer as he hears the lockers unlock it. He opens the locker door and sees that there are more blasters in the locker. Chuck places his blaster in the locker. He takes out two new one. He places one of them in the holster. He looks at what is really in this locker. There is combat vest, similar to a Kevlar vest that he had worn on his previous espionage missions. There are gloves and elbow pads.

Chuck look at what he is wear. The astronaut suit is holding up. The question is how long will it hold up. Chuck already knew the answer. Chuck takes off the holster and starts to take off the astronaut suit. It is useless to him without the helmet, which he hate to admit to himself that he forget where he left it. He looks at the boots. He decided that they were still useful, but did take them off to help him put on the new clothes.

Chuck put on the new black pants and shirt. He could feel that the material was made for one purpose only: Combat. He places the vest over the shirt. He then places the knee pads and elbow pads on. He put on the new holster. When he finished putting on the new clothes, he walks to a mirror. Chuck smile at the image that is reflected to him.

"This, I can figure out." said Chuck. Chuck walk away from the mirror and start looking through the drawers of the desks, hoping to find something that could help him. He start loading up his pouches that is on the vest with various items: dried fruits, smoke pellets, more cartilage for the blaster, and rope.

On the third desk, he sees a clear glass card. It is a size of a credit card. There is nothing on it, which he found peculiar. He picks it up when the edge of the card lights up.

"Uh, oh." said Chuck, hoping that he did not just activates a bomb. Instead an image of a naked blonde appears.

"Hello, how may I help you?" said the naked blonde.

"Oh boy, you are naked." said Chuck as he jumps away from the naked blonde. Chuck could not believe that the California girl image is still popular in the future.

"Yes, I am." reply the confused hologram woman. "I am the Sabrina 4010. My purpose is simply…

"I don't need to know. I think I can figure it out." interrupts Chuck as he place his eyes on the attractive woman's blue eyes. "Unless you can link up to the main computers from anywhere on this station, then you are not a good idea to take with me."

"I can do that. I am multipurpose woman. I help you do your work while give you…."

"Wait? You said that you can?" ask Chuck as he find it extremely hard to focus on the naked woman's eyes.

"Yes." reply the naked hologram woman.

"Is there blueprints or maps of this station?" ask Chuck.

"Yes." She assumes the game show host poses as if she is displaying an expensive item. Above her hands, an image of the station's blueprints appears. Chuck smile.

"Oh. You have no idea how much that makes me happy." said Chuck.

"I am glad to service you."

"I am glad, but I really need you to do me a big favor."

"Sure." answers the hologram.

"I need you to put on some clothes. You are very attractive and very distracting." said Chuck.

"Of course." said the blonde as the naked image of the woman turn into a skirt wearing, white blouse, glassing wearing librarian.

"Of course. You had to be the sexy librarian." said Chuck. "I need you to minimize yourself. Scratch that. I just need you to just display the air duct system and a way to get to the central air system from here."

"As you wish." The sexy librarian disappear and is replaces the blueprints. There is a red line that show what directions Chuck had to go to reach his destination.

"Alright. I can work with this." said Chuck with a smile.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Morgan sits in the Subway Restaurant waiting for his guest. He takes a drink out of his Coke. He has an open small bag of chips and a wrapped sandwich in front of him. He looks around again, hoping that his guest did not forget. It is quiet and peaceful. While Subway is becoming the McDonalds of sandwich Shoppe, Morgan knew that the locals did not go to Subway for a really awesome sandwich. They go straight toward Lou's deli. Even now, Morgan could feel his mouth waters a little at the thought of Lou's sandwich.

His guest, however, had a soft spot for Subway.

"Morgan Grimes." Morgan turns toward the voice. His guest is here.

"Big Mike." answers Morgan as he gets up from his chair. Big Mike simply waves Morgan down. Morgan sits back down in his chair. When Morgan asked for a quiet place to talk with his former boss, it was Big Mike's suggestion to come to Subway.

Ever since Big Mike's unauthorized sale of the Buy More's inventory, Big Mike could not get a job. Word had spread thru the retail community of Big Mike's stunt. Most stores did not want to hire someone who follows the beats of their own drum, especially if it dips into the company's profit.

Big Mike did one thing right: He saved his money. While he is not independently wealthy, he had time to relax, fish, and to figure out his next move. Of course, it did help that Big Mike is still living with Morgan's mom.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me, Dad?" ask Big Mike as he sits down in his chair. Ever since Big Mike has been dating Morgan's mom, he has been insisting that Morgan call him Dad.  
"Sorry, Dad."

"That's better." said Big Mike.

"I got you a wonderful club sandwich." said Morgan as he pushes the wrapped sandwich in front of Big Mike.

"Thanks. You did put in extra jalapeno peppers?" ask Big Mike.  
"Of course." answers Morgan as he watches Big Mike unwraps the sandwich. Big Mike takes a big bite out of the sandwich and savors the wonderful sandwich.

"Well. I know you did not ask me here for lunch for no special reason." mentions Big Mike as he finishes his bite.  
"What? How can you say that?"

"Because you know that I am going fishing with your mom."

"Fishing. Does she know about this?" ask Morgan.  
"Yeah. It was her idea."  
"Oh."  
"Look, we are leaving with a few hours and I still have to get a few stuffs for the trip for your mom. If I don't get them, life will not be easy for me. So, what's the problem?" ask a concern Big Mike.  
"Well, Big Mike. It's like this: I am having problems with Lester." said Morgan as he watches his former boss take another bite out of his sandwich. The word Lester made the man put down his sandwich.

"Oh boy."

"Yeah. Lester is not playing well with someone at work." explains Morgan.  
"Female, I take it."

"Yeah. How do you know?"

"I know Lester. He tends to rub the woman the wrong way when he first meets them and then the sexual harassment suit happens."  
"Believe or not, it is not like that." The statement sends confusion to Big Mike. "The two are fighting about who is better at their jobs. She thinks she is better than he is. Lester is just trying to prove that she is not. So, they are now fighting."

"How bad are these fights?"

"They just upgraded to having yelling matches."  
"That is not good. They are only an eggshell away from being physical. How close do you think is it for her to file a complaint?" asks Big Mike since he knew all the policy of the Buy More.

"Oh, she would never file a complaint. She will only kill him." answers Morgan.

"Really."

"Think of her as a female Casey."

"Ouch. So, what is Chuck doing about it?" ask Big Mike.  
"Well, he does not know. He is…. On vacation." lies Morgan. Considering that Morgan still does not know where his best friend is at, the vague lie seems the best option in this conversation.  
"Good for him. He works too much. Glad to know that he is taking full advantage of the perks of the job. So he does not know about the Lester situation." said Big Mike as he takes another bite from his sandwich.

"Nope."

"What have you done with the situation?" ask Big Mike.

"I did the classic 3 out of 5 fall matches between Lester and Tiffany."  
"Clever. It gives no room in making excuse when one of them wins. They can't say that the contest is rigged or the other is sick. Smart play there, son."

"Thanks."

"So, why am I here?" asks Big Mike.

"Well, the problem is that this fighting between the two is dividing up the Buy More."

"Really."

"See, Corporate send us some management trainees. We are supposed to train them so; they can get their own stories. Well, Tiffany is one of those trainees. She's the one with the problem with Lester. With this fighting between the two, you can see who the management trainees are and who the worker bees are."

"Not good. I can see which side everyone has taken."

"That is a problem. I am thinking this fight is just a symptom of a bigger problem."

"It does not take a genius to know what is wrong. It is a simple gelling problem. The crew has not gel together as a team. You have the new people and you have the old guard. Considering everything that has happened at the store, it does not surprises me that the old timer does not want to hang with the new trainees. Sooner or later, that will blow up on you. You got to nip this now." points out Big Mike.

"I know and that is why I ask you here. I just don't know how." said Morgan to his former boss.

"There is an answer to your problem. You got to unite the store against a common foe." said Big Mike.

"What?"

"When I was manager, I had a common foe that everyone did not like. Take a guess who it was."

"Harry Tang." answers Morgan without thinking about it.  
"Everyone did not like him, not even the sale force. They would have rather pee in Harry's coffee than put creamer in it."

"True."

"When he left, we got Emmett. Everyone hated him especially when he took my job." explain Big Mike.

"He was a weasel."

"But those guys united that store. What you need is that certain someone that everyone can unite against. Then they will forget about all of those problems."

"That is going to be hard."

"Well, time is not on your side. If you can find that certain someone while Lester and that Management trainee is competing, that would be great. It would make such an impact on them."

"Great."

"What are you making them do right now?"  
"Right now, I am having Lester and Tiffany mentoring."  
"Really?"

"See, Lester is mentoring Jesse while Tiffany is mentoring Jeff.

"In what?"

"Lester is mentoring about the Nerd Herd aspect of the Buy More while Tiffany is mentoring Jeff on sales." explains Morgan.

"I can see the train wreck happening."

"Well, I have to get back to the store to make sure that does not happen."

"Well, son. Like I told you before, find that enemy before this contest is over. Once you do, a lot of your problems will be gone."

"Thanks Big Mike." Morgan stands up from his chair.

"Don't worry about it. That is what family is for."  
"Tell my mom good luck with the fishes."

"I will." said Big Mike as he finishes up his sandwich.

* * *

Tiffany looks at Jeff. Jeff is standing behind the Nerd Herd desk, trying to balance a penny on his index finger. If there is anything that is going to test her patience, Jeff would be it. Thankfully Tiffany had training and she knows who she is dealing with.

"So, are you going to stone wall me?" ask Tiffany, who is standing in front of the desk.

"What?" Jeff's penny fell off of his hand onto the floor as Jeff place his focus on Tiffany.

"You are going to stone wall me so your best friend wins this contest." said Tiffany.

"Yeah." answer Jeff. He did not bother lying to her. "Jesse is doing the same thing to Lester."

Both individuals look at Lester and Jesse. They are arguing. Mostly, Jesse is chewing Lester out. Tiffany could not help but smile. While Jesse and Tiffany had not carried a conversation, Jesse is still helping Tiffany out. If they were not friends, they will be very loyal colleagues.

"Fine. How do I make you bugle?" ask Tiffany as she places her focus back onto Jeff.

"There is nothing that you can do. I am a rock and Lester is my best friend. I will never betray him." answers Jeff with some defiant. Tiffany admires Jeff for a second. Then the second is gone. Tiffany grabs Jeff's arm and drag him to the backroom of the store.

Jeff already has his frightened face on as Tiffany up against the white wall of the backroom. Considering that Jeff now knows how strong Tiffany actually is, he had every reason to. Having a woman manhandle him is nothing new for Jeff. Having one that had a John Casey's grip is scary and new for Jeff. He looks at Tiffany and wonders what she is going to do to him.

"OK. They say use the carrot or a stick to get someone to do something. Considering that I know what type of person that you are, I will use both the carrot and stick approach." said Tiffany.

"What?" said Jeff, who is confused by the statement.  
"I think that it is very admirable that you are sticking up for your friend. But I think that I can give you something to change your mind." said a confident Tiffany.

"No you can't." said Jeff, hoping that he can make himself believe that statement.

"I can get you the best beer in the US." offers Tiffany.  
"So?"  
"I can get you a keg for the next six months for free."

"What?" said Jeff as he wet his lips slightly.

"Yep."  
"So? Do you even know what the best beer in the US is?" ask Jeff.

"Yes, I do. Do you know how much it cost? I also know that you can't afford it and you have to be on a waiting list to get the beer." answers Tiffany.  
"Crap! You do know." Jeff gulps at the thought that Tiffany knew something about beer.  
"That is right. I know a guy who owes me a favor. He can get me any beer for free. If you help me, I can get you that beer for the next six month." said Tiffany.

"I will not do it." said Jeff. Tiffany smiles. Jeff is still wetting his lips at the thought of free beer. He just needs a push.

"But you have not heard the best part."

"What's that?" Ask Jeff.

Tiffany takes a deep breath and lifts up her green Buy More shirt. Jeff's eyes widen and mouth drop.

Tiffany put her shirt down.

"Wow. That was…"

"Yes, I know. Not only will you get the beer, the next time that I lift up my shirt, you get to see me without a bra."  
"No way."

"Yep. Guess what? They are fantastic. You will get to see it for 30 seconds that most men will never see in their lifetime." said Tiffany to the man who is shaking like a vibrating stuffed bunny.  
"Wow."

"Now for the stick." Tiffany smile disappears. Jeff try to take a step back with fright as her face darken. Jeff did not even bother figuring Tiffany out. She is very different from Amber. Amber is sunshine while Tiffany is a chance of thunderstorm. While no one has seen Tiffany in a really bad mood, everyone made sure that they did not provoke her. At this moment, Jeff could see that it is definitely would not be in his best interest to provoke her. "If I don't win, I will make your life a living hell. You will not be able to sleep at the Buy More after your drunken nights. I will make sure that you will never get a chance to hit on any woman at any place at any time. Your connections will dry up. I will make you think that John Casey is a teddy bear that you want to hug."

"Gulp." said Jeff.

"I can be very creative when I am vindictive."

"Double gulp."

"Now are you going to help me or not?" said a smiling Tiffany.

* * *

Lester is sitting in the break room frustrated. Within three hours, Tiffany has transformed Jeff into a model employee.

Lester was trying to give a pep talk to Jesse, which turned into Jesse chewing him out when he noticed Tiffany grabbing Jeff and leading him to the back room. Lester did not think anything of the situation until they both got back. Lester noticed that Jeff had combed his hair.

At that moment, Lester knew that he lost his best friend to the dark side.

Within three hours, Jeff acquired 4 customer reviews, all stating that he is the most helpful employee that they had dealt with.

Lester slams his head on the table in the break room and left it there. He knew that Jeff was getting a bribe from Tiffany. It had to be big in order to make Jeff actually try to do his job.

Lester knew that he was going to get a blow out if he did not make Jesse help him.

Lester could hear someone walking in the break room. Lester did not bother lifting his head off the table. He closes his eyes.

"I can't believe I am going to lose to Tiffany." said Lester out loud.

Lester could hear the person who walked in starts to walk toward the vending machine.

"Do you know what it is like to be a z- person?" ask Lester. The person stops.

"It is horrible. I never told anyone this but, that is what my life is like. I am the person that everyone wonders about. Everyone asks what the heck am I doing with my life. No offense, but I am trying to get my life where it needs to be. It is a lot of work, but I know it will be worthwhile. What bugs me is the fact that no one sees the hard work. Instead they compare me to my brothers. My brothers are doctors, architects, and a nurse. Now, I got someone who wants to prove to me that I suck. I just don't know what to do to prove to them that I don't suck. What I do know is that I don't want people comparing me to Tiffany and wonder why I suck."

Lester lift his head and sees that it is Jesse, who is standing in front of the vending machine.

"Oh."

"Hey, Lester." said Jesse.

"I thought you were one of the other guys."

"I figured." answers Jesse. "And I understand how you feel."

"What?"

"Her name is Annie. She was in my class. She knew five different languages and was so good in her classes that she did not even have to complete her courses before getting a job. All of my instructors compared me to her and wonder why I was not like the confident, blonde, pretty girl. So yeah, I understand." said Jesse.

"Oh." said Lester as he was surprised by this revelation. "I never thought that you would be compared to anyone. You seem so perfect."

Jesse smile a bit by the complement.

"Well, I'm not. I know that feeling sucks." said Jesse. "So, let's get you that win."

* * *

Jenny secured the area.

She could not believe that she nearly forgot about securing the area. After talking to the Captain about the situation, she realized that she did not check the area for anyone infected. So, Jenny went out and made sure that there were no surprises.

She made sure that there was no surprise entrance. She made sure that the doors were locked. After some tinkering, Jenny made sure that the elevator was disconnected. In the end, Jenny set out to make sure that this docking section is completely secured.

Jenny walks to her ship and teleports back on the ship.

"Yes, ma'am."

"How is the situation on the station?" ask Jenny  
"It appears that the infected are getting ready to go back to bed."  
"That does not sound right. It has only been a few hours."

"According to scanners, it turns out the state of their bodies are in an alter states. They use a lot of energy, so they eat a lot and sleep a lot." answers the ship computer.

"Do we know the status on the food situation?" ask Jenny.

"According to the records in the computer, the station has enough food to last a week under normal circumstances." answer the computer.

"Under current condition?"

"There is enough food to last for a day."

"Not good. Calculate the chances of them turning on themselves." commands Jenny.

"I have already calculated the chances of them turning on themselves. Jenny, it is 100%."  
"Great." said Jenny, knowing now that time will be a factor. "OK. Time to focus. Let us get those clamps off of you."  
Jenny starts walking toward the back of her ship. Being as old as Jenny, she had accumulated a lot of stuff. It had souvenirs from various planets. Some were decorative. Some were just pretty. However, she did have very useful things.

Right now, she had to find one useful item under a pile of souvenirs.

* * *

"Come onto the space station, we'll get together, have a few laughs..." said Chuck as he crawls in the air duct with a bag being dragged behind him.

Chuck stops crawling. He takes out the computer card. A small holographic map appears before him. The map that the hologram displayed is accurate. Chuck gives thanks to whatever god that has been watching over him. Chuck resumes his crawling.

After getting some other things like more rope, a flash bomb, and more guns, Chuck had been quietly crawling in the air duct ever since he left the security room. Being in a tight area reminded Chuck of a sardine in the can. He did not like the analogy considering he was not a fan of sardines. Another reason is the fact that the infected may tear into the air duct like rabid animals. Funny how having the Intersect, being trained by John Casey, changed all of that. Chuck crawl up the air duct in silence.

Being quiet has never been easy for Chuck. In fact, quiet seems to be an unnatural state to be in. It could only be he always tried to fill the silence with something: a joke, music, television, or Morgan.

Chuck stops crawling as he approaches the vertical drop. He looks down and could see that it is a long drop. According to the map, the vertical drop leads to the other floors' air ducts. It is the spot where Chuck had to go up pass five different floors. Chuck let out a sigh of frustration. He had been dreading this ever since he saw it on the map.

He looks around the vertical drop of the air ventilation and saw his saving grace: It is a ladder wielded on the wall. Chuck let out a sigh of relief. It meant that he did not have to drag his bag of stuff in an awkward fashion.

Chuck gets on the ladder, leaving the bag at the edge of the air duct. His left hand let go of the ladder and reach for the bag. He grabs the bag by the handle and slowly let the bag slide toward his arm. Chuck gives a little thanks to Sara. She made sure that he worked out to get into a top physical condition to pass the CIA physical exam. Carrying a bag filled with stuff up a ladder did not seem hard.

After 30 minutes of going up an air duct, Chuck finally reaches his destination floor. Chuck tosses the bag into the air duct. He proceeds to get into the air duct. As he crawls, he pushes the bag along. If the map is correct, this air duct should lead him to the center of the space station. As he approaches the air grate, Chuck crawls softly. Once over the air grate, Chuck stops crawling and looks down. He sees the infected sniff each other's butt. Chuck scratches his head at the sight and look at his watch. With a breeze from the air and the food that he liberated from the kitchen, Chuck simply decided that the best course of action would be to observe in comfort as the infected did their thing.

Chuck take out a dried peach that he got from the security room and watch the infected.

As he eats the dried peach, Chuck still could not believe how many are in the room. Chuck knew how many are in the room and it is still too many of them. Just seeing the number of people made the number in his head scary. It also scared a lot of his confidence out of him.

It did not help on the size of the room, which is a very large room or the fact that he is high above the ground. Chuck estimated that he had to be about ten stories above the ground. Not a thought that he wanted to have. He looks at the pack that he had been lugging around.

Chuck had rope. The question is that is it strong enough and long enough to get him to his goal.

As Chuck looks at the infected, he notice something else: Some of the infected want to fight something. He could see how tense each one of them is. He did not know if it is the fact that they are infected with the virus, the fact that they have been in the room too long, or they are simply tired of each other, they were slowly picking on each other for a fight. While the altercation has been minimal, the brutality of the fight had been climbing. Each fight got more violent.

At this moment as Chuck watch, he could see that they were slowly winding down. Some of the infected has been sniffing each other butts and lying down. As Chuck takes another bite from the dried peach, Chuck places his focus back on the box.

The box is connected to the air duct like an air conditioner. Like Major Tom said, there is a button on the box. Even at this distance, Chuck could see another device attached to the box. While he had no flashes, Chuck already knew what it could be based on observation. Almost all the infected watched over the device like it is an enchanted ring. While they never grab it or tried to remove it, they were very protective of it. If he did not know better, they did act very golum-like around it.

That second device had to be what made the infected protective over the device. How it does it did not matter. It works and Chuck had to deal with a large amount of people to get to it.

It is bad enough that the infected had the anger issue, now they had possession issues.

Chuck let out a sigh of frustration. With the infected getting tired, it wouldn't be long for them to get sleepy. Once they are asleep, Chuck had a window of opportunity to get the mission completed. He rather deals with sleeping crazed manic then one that is awake. His rest is over. Chuck drags the bag towards him so he can get his preparation done for the next part of the mission, which he is not looking forward to.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

_A space station is like a mini planet. It has to maintain a gravity field for its habitats. It has to have air for the habitats to breath. That is not even taking into account for the waste it has to get rid of and water for the people to drink and use. A station is a complicated thing to maintain and to build. That is not even taking into account the energy that it has to run on. _

_ Considering the function of a space station, a space station can get more complicated. It can be a fueling station for ships. A space station can be a neutral ground for conflicts between planets. A space station can simply be a home. For the space station, Ithaca; it is all of this. _

_ It is the reason why the center of the station is huge. It has to house all of the machinations to run the station. Considering the size of the center of the station, it houses also tools and vehicles for the maintain workers. _

_ The sheer size of this room has to house the air purification system. It also has to house the water purification system, not to mention the waste discharge machine. It has to house every piece of machines at a convenient spot for the engineers to fix the problem._

_ For security, this is the place that everything can go wrong. Ideally, security's world revolves around this spot. If anything goes wrong in the center of the station, everything goes wrong. _

_ Unfortunately for the security guards lying unconscious on the floor, everything is going to go wrong._

_ Major Tom has made the space station Ithaca a perfect trap._

_ Major Tom walks over the unconscious guards and look at the sheer size of the room. He could not believe how vulnerable a space station could be. Yet, a space station has never been attack this way. Major Tom vaguely remembers that there is some sort of treaty that was supposed to have been signed giving a space station that type of neutrality. Luckily for the habitats on the space station, he was not going to kill anyone of them. In fact, they will become a vital component of his trap for Jenny._

_Major Tom had the female Time Lord. He had her captured and in a room filled with bars and a single toilet. He had her. Instead, Major Tom lost Jenny again. Somehow she picked the locks. Without him knowing it, Jenny stole his Time Converter. The detail did not matter on how. The result was what counts and Jenny escaped. _

_Major Tom approaches the air purification system. For a minute, he took in the splendor of the machine. He marvels on how far the human race came from being apes in jungle trying to reach a banana. He is so proud of his species. _

_Major Tom looks at the device in his hand. Since he verifies that Jenny's ship is still here, Major Tom knew that Jenny will have to return back to his space station. He smiles at his plan that will ensnare the female Time Lord. It will take a miracle for her to save everyone and live. This is his perfect trap. _

_He focus back on the task at hand and proceed to work his insidious device onto the machine and start to wonder what could the time travel alien try to do in order to escape out of this one._

* * *

Jenny dives into the pile of souvenirs. Even she was surprised on how many souvenirs that she accumulated throughout the years. There are stuffs that she simply forgot that she had in this part of the ship. When Jenny picks up the pink statue of a couple in their native wedding garments, Jenny could not help but stare at it. She simply could not fathom how she got it. The statue was grotesques, yet eerily beautiful. She just could not remember what the origin of this statue was. The fact that it is pink disturbs her a bit.

"How did I get you?" ask Jenny to the statue.

She simply stares at it. She stares at the groom as he is kneeling before the bride. The bride simply had her hand over the groom's head like he is patting the kneeling male. Jenny could not tell what the bride's facial expression said. For the life of her, Jenny did not know if the bride had love, sorrow, forgiveness or tired expression.

The answer came to Jenny as she slapped her forehead.

"Of course. The Prince of Kywr'sit gave it to me. I still can not believe it that he proposed to me." said the smiling Time Lord. "I wonder if my father has this problem."

Jenny places the statue off to the side and resumes her digging into her pile of souvenir. What she found was something unexpected. She sits up and looks at it.

It was Chuck's I phone.

She thought that she lost it while saving a planet. Jenny could remember having the phone in her hand while the planet was in flames. She could see the phone slip out of her pockets as she rescued the child from the explosion. Since the planet was undergoing the final stages of its life, Jenny knew that it was lost.

Yet, here it is in her hand. Even now, she could remember how she got the phone.

After Jenny saved Chuck from a kidnapping, Chuck and Jenny had lunch on the roof of the Buy More. After they ate their lunch, Jenny made a decision. She was going to ask Chuck to join her. He became the first and only person to refuse to see the universe. While she felt bad at the time, Chuck tried his best to give the young Time Lord some reassurance.

_ Chuck reaches inside his pocket and took out his phone._

_ "Here." Chuck toss his phone to Jenny, who catches it. "That is my phone. Call me when you have something to talk about. Call me when you have a song to sing. You can call me when you are feeling a little crazy. Most of all, call me when you need a friend."_

"I thought I lost you." said Jenny to the phone. Her smile turns into a frown. She shakes her head, knowing that she should have done a better job in keeping tabs on her companions/friends. A lot of her problems would have been solved if she did that.

Major Tom got to her former companions in a methodical brutal fashion. By the time, she figured out what was going on; it was too late for any of them. Major Tom changed them so much that they did not even recognize her after she saved them. Chuck is the only one left. It was by sheer chance that he did not take up her offer to see the universe. That sheer chance saved him.

Her smile reappears as she realizes that she had in her hands.

"Of course. What was I thinking? You are going to help me save Chuck." said Jenny to the phone. She places the phone off to one side.

"But first, I have to find the most important thing in the universe." Jenny dives back into her pile of trinkets.

"Found you." proclaims the Time Lord after five minutes of moving souvenirs off to one side. She held up the object of her desires.

It is her screwdriver.

The screwdriver is her making. It took her a while, but she perfected it. It is two sided and extremely powerful. On one end of the screwdriver is the sonic portion. It had saved her many times in the past. It has unlocked doors that should not have been locked. It had warned her of hidden danger.

The other end of the screwdriver…. Is her just in case everything is ending section. There had been times when she needed it. Only by sheer luck, Jenny was able to get out of it. After the thousandth near death experience that nearly destroyed a universe, Jenny decided that she had to stop relying on luck so much. It was the only reason that she constructed this side of the screwdriver. She put her screwdriver in her pocket. She had never used it before. The only reason that it existed because the soldier portion of her brain told her to always be prepared.

Jenny gets up from the ground and pick up the I Phone. She places the I Phone in her other pocket. Her plan in her head is starting to formulate into a clear focus.

"Ship. How is the scanning on the fuel cells?" ask Jenny.  
"Scanning has just been completed. All fuel cells are clean. They are able to be used for the luxury cruiser." reply the ship's computer.

"Good. Begin the loading process of the fuel cells. When I get back, we are setting sails." commands Jenny.

"We are still under a level 10 quarantine." reminds the computer to its captain.

"I got my screwdriver. That is not a problem. The main problem is making sure that Chuck does not get himself killed while I am transporting the cells. How is his process?"

"Chuck has just started his descent from the air duct in the ceiling. He is making slow process." Jenny looks up and a video feed appear on a screen. She sees Chuck slowly climbing down a rope.  
"If anything goes wrong, he will be like a pinata during a birthday party. I better hurry. Teleport me down to the dock." commands Jenny.

"Teleporting."  
Jenny teleports out of the ship and onto the dock. Jenny looks at the base of the ship. It is clamp on by the docks security system. She aims her screwdriver at it and press the button. The sonic portion of the screwdriver activates and Jenny could hear the safety clamps releases its hold on her ship. She smiles at her small success.

Jenny starts to run toward the door of the dock. She reach inside her pocket and takes out the phone.

"Alright, let's see if you work."

She turns it on the phone. However the screen on the phone has the dead battery symbol. Jenny reaches in her other pocket and takes out the screwdriver. She points it at the battery and recharges it.

"That's better." Jenny presses a button and hears the phone connecting.

"C'mon. Pick up on the right year." said Jenny, hoping for a respond.

"Hello, this is the Woodcomb residences." answers a female voice. Jenny stops at her track. Jenny never met the important woman in Chuck's life. She reviews in her head of Chuck's story and had three women that would answers the phone.

"Is this Ellie?" ask Jenny.  
"Yesss." answers Ellie Bartowski. Jenny could hear the confusion in the woman's voice.

"Tell me you are the Ellie Bartowski in the year of 2011."

"Yes."

"Fantastic. I need you to answer my question."

"Who is this?" ask Ellie.

"I am so sorry. I did not introduce myself. This is Jenny."

"Wait. What?" ask a surprised Ellie. Jenny felt a little confusion in her.

"Jenny."

"Not THE Jenny."

"Depend by what you mean by THE?"

"The Jenny that contacted my father. The Jenny who needed my father's help to find a watch. The Jenny that my brother told me is an alien. That is what I am meaning by THE." explains Ellie.  
"Well, we are all aliens to some cultures…"  
"Oh my god!" yells out Ellie in happiness. Jenny could imagine the female doctor jumping in joy by this news. "My brother found you! Oh my God! He found the watch. He did it. I knew that brother of mine could find it. Wait. What are you doing calling me?"

"Actually, you are on Chuck's phone and it is the first number on here."

"OK. What's wrong?"

"What makes you think that something is wrong?"  
"I have not seen Sarah, Chuck or Casey in a few days and they are spies. You are calling me and not my brother, which means my brother can't call me. I also tend to worry about my brother. You can see where my train of thought comes from." explains Ellie.  
"Point taken. I can see why your brother is so smart. You raised him right. Do you want the truth or..."

"I want the truth." interrupted Ellie.

"Last I saw him; he is hanging upside down on a rope trying to get a device that may save a space station filled with people. The only problem is that everyone on the station is crazed murderous lunatics. So, I do have to make this call short because I have things that I need to do to make sure that everyone is safe and not killing each other even though it is my sheer pleasure in talking to the person who made sure that her brother is smart, funny, and most of all caring. So that is the truth that you need to hear."

"OK. How can I help?" Jenny smile. She likes Chuck's sister.

"It is pretty simple. I need to find Morgan Grimes." Jenny start running toward the door.

"Morgan? He should still be at the Buy More. It is two at this moment, so he is back from lunch." said Ellie, who did not hide her confusion on why an alien would want Morgan Grimes.  
"Excellent."  
"Jenny."

"Yes."

"Watch over my brother."  
"Of course." Jenny hangs up the phone and places it back in her pocket. The dock doors open. Jenny runs out of the docks and in the hallway. She stops running when she came upon the robot.

She bends on one knee and look at the robot.

"Hello, little one. It looks like I am going to need to fix you up. I need your help." said Jenny to the little broken robot as she places her focus on fixing the robot.

* * *

As Chuck slowly climb the robe, Chuck could not help but think that he was going too slow. Unfortunately, he did not have a lot of options in terms of plans.

The problem that Chuck was finding is the sheer number of infected people on the station: It is everyone on the station except Jenny and Chuck. Considering that he had not stop and counted how many is on the station, he did not have a number of what he is dealing with. All he knows that it seems endless.

The plans that Chuck had in order to get into the room required more than two people. Since he is separated from Jenny, most of his plans were simply dead in the water.

It left Chuck with one option: Sneak in the room, hit the button and pray that Major Tom was not a lying d-bag. It was not perfect and it was not a pretty plan. Like he thought, it was the only plan that he had.

The first part of the plan is the hardest. Sneak in the room. As he looked over the blueprint, he found that it did not take long to eliminate his option.

The first entrance is the obvious. It was the front door. With most of the infected on the ground staring at the front door, the moment that door opens, Chuck knew an attack was imminent. Survival was a zero percent.

The second entrance that Chuck found is an air duct a few feet away from the door. Same problem: The moment he get out of the air duct, attack would be imminent, only this time, Chuck did not have anyway of running. He would be stuck in the room with them.

There was one entrance left, which Chuck accidentally picked: The air duct that was ceiling. Considering that it is 10 stories above ground, this entrance had plenty of risk: Chuck could fall to his death. Chuck could find himself with not enough rope. Chuck could slip and fall. In the end, it all boils down to death.

Chuck did not want to take this option, but the number simply dictated. At the least, injure himself and still be surrounded by infected people that would treat him like an invader, which may end up with his death.

Chuck had only one move. He had to sneak in while the infected sleep. Considering that the infected people were slowly lying themselves and taking a nap, the window of opportunity is opening up for Chuck. The risk of being seen is lower. None of them were playing attention to the device. If he is lucky, he would be able to sneak in and simply presses the button.

Of course the plan is simple. It was the details that made it complicated.

Chuck had to sneak in via the entrance that was 10 stories above ground. He had to find a way to attach a rope, which may not even be long enough, and climb down the rope without falling down.

Chuck had to find a way to hit the button from wherever he is hanging from. If he is lucky, he had to simply climb up the rope and hope for the best.

Again, the details are the problem.

The rope that he acquired from the security room is definitely not long enough. In order to fix this problem, Chuck had to find the other security rooms in the station and get their ropes. While this did take time, Chuck found that he is getting better in moving in the air ducts.

Chuck is still trying to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

While he look for more rope, Chuck look for something to attach to the rope in the air ducts.

With the help of the Sabrina computer, which still insist on doing her primary and yet distracting duties, he found it in one of the lockers in the security room. He then looks for potential items that could help him. He found flash bombs and more blasters.

Once he got the items in question, he started the process of getting things set up to lower himself down. What he did not realize was how quick he did everything. Chuck figured that a lot of the time that would have been spent looking for the stuff was eliminated because of the sexy librarian in his pocket. By identifying the items in question and giving him a route to take, it gave him focus and speed.

Of course, there are things that the sexy librarian can't do for him.

That would be slowly climbing down a rope while not making any noise.

That is his current predicament.

Chuck only looks down once and that was when he climbs out of the air duct. He did not like the height but it had to be down.

As he climbs down the rope, Chuck could hear his high school gym teacher laughing at him. Chuck did not do so well in the rope climb in his teenager years. If it was not for Captain Awesome and John Casey, Chuck is pretty sure that he would still have problems climbing a rope.

What seems like forever, Chuck is at the end of his rope. He looks at his goal. He is still a good distance away from reaching the target.

Chuck takes a deep breath and flashes. He takes a deep breath. He had some maneuvering to do.

The end result was that he had to hang upside with his legs holding him on the rope allowing him to use his blaster to hit the button. With the risk of destroying the whole system, Chuck made sure that he changed the settings of the blaster. The result is that the blast would be like a big dodge ball hitting an object. It would be like throwing a ball on the target.

Of course, the end result that Chuck had in mind became reality with all of its problems. Chuck could feel the blood rushing down his face. He could also feel gravity wanting him to come down to the ground. He could feel himself slip a little bit. Chuck shakes his head and reminds himself to actually go to Las Vegas and try to catch the show with the acrobats. At least he could figure out how they did the stunts without running the risk of dying.

What Chuck did not expect is the door of the center of the station to open.

The door did what he thought it would. It did make some noise as it open. Whatever noise it did make, did not wake up the infected people. Chuck shakes his head at his bad guess, but thanks his lucky stars that everyone is still asleep.

What Chuck saw made him sweat and his heart races.

It is the little girl with her teddy bear from the hallway.

"No." whispers Chuck.

The girl looks around at the area. She slowly walks in the room as if she is looking for something. Chuck figure that she is looking for her parents.

"Please don't look up. Please don't look up. Please don't look up." Whisper Chuck to himself.

The girl looks up. Chuck's heart starts to race.

Her red eyes grew when she saw Chuck.

"Oh, no." said Chuck in a whisper.

The girl starts to yell.

* * *

Jenny looks at the robot. She made the robot a fully functional robot. Jenny found some spare parts on the docks and made the little robot grow a few feet taller. Knowing what the robot is going into, Jenny reinforced the weak spots on the robot.

She smiles at her accomplishment. The robot is missing one important part. Like most tin men, all it needed is a brain.

She had the only one in mind. Jenny press the button on the I Phone labeled the Buy More and look off to the side.

Jenny found a mirror on the dock and looks at her reflection.

"I do not look a day over 100." remarks Jenny as she smiles at her reflection.

* * *

Morgan watches as the two combatant fights for their customers from the Nerd Herd desk. Amber is sitting behind the counter watching them with Morgan. The spectacle simply grabs their attention and is not going to let go.

Lester is encouraging Jesse to go after the customer who is looking at tablets. For Tiffany, she is splashing water on Jeff as he struggling from passing out. Jeff stands right back up with a confused look on his face.

For a while, it looked like Tiffany had this contest. Something happened during Lester's lunch break. After that, Jesse and Lester became a cohesive team. Lester, using all of his sneaky attributes found perfect prey for Jesse. Jesse, in turn, used different selling tactics on them. Jeff, in turn, lost all of his steam. His hair is frazzle and he is losing his concentration.

The score is tie for Lester and Tiffany. Both combatants stare at each with determination that Morgan had not seen since the year of the Tang.

"I did not think it would be this hard." remark Amber as she stands beside Morgan.

"I figure it would be for Tiffany who would have the hardest time. It did seem unfair to pair her up with Jeff." said Morgan.

"Well, Jesse did stall a lot for Tiffany. But something happened. I don't know what it is, but she is genuinely trying to help Lester now." remarks Amber as she stare at them. Jesse is doing something that Amber has not seen out of the future CIA agent. Jesse is using the seductive techniques. She is giggling at the man's poorly executed jokes.

"It's a nail biter." said Morgan as the Nerd Herder phone rings.

Amber picks up the phone.

"Nerd Herd. This is Amber. How can I help you?" answers Amber as she keeps an eye on Tiffany. Tiffany slap Jeff's face with such force that saliva came out of the man's mouth. Amber could not help but feel Jeff's pain.

"Is there a Morgan Grimes working there?" ask a female voice.

"Yes. He is here today. Please hold." said Amber as she places the caller on hold. "Morgan, it's for you."

"Thanks, Amber." Morgan looks at Jeff. The slap did wake Jeff up. He shakes the cobwebs out of his drunken skull and starts to look for customers. Morgan shakes his head at the odd sight that he never thought he would see. He picks up the phone. "This is Morgan, how can I help you?"

"Morgan Grimes. It is so good to hear your voice." responds the happy voice.

"Well, I do have a wonderful voice. I have been told that many of time. May I ask who I am talking to?"

"It's me, Morgan. It is Jenny." reply the female voice.

"Jenny who?"

"Jenny."

"No, seriously. Jenny who?"

"Seriously. I was just there a few days ago."

"Jenny. I would remember….." Morgan nearly fall off the counter that he was leaning on when it hit him. He drops the phone onto the floor. "JENNY!"

Amber places her focus on Morgan. He straightens himself out. His face had a shock look that Amber could not ignore. Morgan bends down and pick up the phone.

"Jenny?" ask Morgan.

"Yep. That Jenny."

"Holy crap. Where's Chuck?" ask Morgan.

"That is why I am calling, Morgan. I need your help."

"Where are you? I'll be there as fast as I can." said Morgan. He looks around the Buy More. While he is in charge over the future CIA agents, Morgan knew that he could count on them to run the Buy More without a hitch. His concern over his best friend overrode everything in his life.

"51st century in a galaxy far away."

"Umm, where is that?" ask Morgan who was thinking of any restaurant, club, or bizarre comic book stores that may have that name.

"In a galaxy far far away." answers Jenny, knowing that Morgan is thinking that she is still in this century. "But trust me, I have a plan."

"OK."

"Tell me, Morgan. Do the Buy More still have that entertainment room with the game system?" ask Jenny.

"Yeah."

"Get over that right now and turn that game system on. Chuck does not have that much time left." command the Time Lord.

Morgan slam the phone down on the counter and runs to the entertainment center. Amber stares at him. She hangs up the phone and starts to follow him.

Morgan run into the entertainment room and closes the curtain. He goes to the gaming system and turns it on. He turns on the television set. Morgan proceeds to turn on the surround sound system.

He watch as it turns on. Amber walk in the entertainment room.

"What's going on, Morgan?" ask Amber.

"That was Jenny." said Morgan as he patiently waits for the game system to load.

"You mean the Jenny that we were supposed to protect?" asks Amber.

"Yeah, that one."  
"UH Oh." said Jenny.

"What?  
"I hung up on her."

"Amber!" said Morgan as he realizes what Amber just did.

"I did not think that it could have been her. Oh my god!" said Amber. Without a warning, Morgan's phone rings. Without hesitation, Morgan picks up.

"This is Morgan."

"Morgan Grime, do not hang up on me." said Jenny.  
"It was a mistake. One of the rookies did that." apologizes Morgan. Amber let out a sigh of relief.

"Do not worry about it. Did you turn on the gaming system?" ask Jenny.

"Yeah."

"What screen are you on?"  
"It is asking me what I want to do." said Morgan. "Just the regular homepage."

"Well that is simple. Take the two controls and pressing all the buttons at the same time."

"What?"

"Trust me."

Morgan takes a controller and hands it to Amber. He takes the other controller.

"Amber. On the count of three, we press all the buttons at the same time." said Morgan.

"OK." said Amber wondering what this is supposed to do.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Amber and Morgan press the buttons at the same time. Both agents look at the television screen as it goes black.

Within a minute, the black screen shows a hallway. Both future agents look at the screen. Neither agent recognizes the hallway.

"What the?" said Amber.

When they see Jenny appear on the screen both individuals jumps.

"Can you see me?" ask Jenny with a smile.

"Holy crap, that's the girl." said Amber as she drops the controller. All the research that the recruits is on the television screen. She is smiling.

"Jenny." Was all Morgan could say.

"Yes!" yells out Jenny. "You can hang up the phone. Thanks to the wonderful CIA, I can hear you. Thanks to advance technology and my brains, you are seeing the hallway of a space station in the future.

"Wait! Did you say a space station?" asks Morgan.

"That is right. You are seeing it through the eyes of a robot." Jenny knocks on the robots head. Morgan and Amber could hear the metal sound. She then picks up the mirror and show the reflection. Amber and Morgan eyes grow when they see the reflection of the robot.

"Wow!" said Morgan with a smile. "That is so awesome."

Amber sits down on the sofa. Her mind starts to piece the information. Amber did not want to say what her brain concludes.  
"I know it is, but right now we have a mission to worry about." said Jenny.

"Wait. Does that make you…?"

"That is correct, Morgan Grimes. I am a time traveler." Answer Jenny to Morgan. "Now, you have to focus, because we do not have that much time left."

"Oh my God." said Amber as she absorbs the new information.

She points her screwdriver. Morgan could hear a noise. Without warning, the television screen changes.

The video feed is still the same, but now there is a map on the lower right hand side.  
"Morgan, there should be a map of the space station on the lower right hand corner of the screen. Do you see it?" ask Jenny.

"Yeah. It is a little small."  
"Let me enlarge it a bit." said Jenny. Within seconds, it enlarges enough that both agents in the entertainment center would see it without blocking the view.

"That's perfect."

"Good, Morgan. This is important and I will not have time to tell you this again. So pay attention, Agent Grimes because this is where you save your best friend's life." said Jenny.

Morgan, the carefree best buddy, place his game face. Amber looks at Morgan.

The first time that she seen Morgan Grimes, all she could think of was what was Chuck doing with this guy. He was short, goofy, and hairy. As time went on, she found out what are the qualities that bind the two friends. They were loyal to each other no matter what. They did follow a code that she seen in her brothers. She could see that when it came to help his friend, he try to put on his best game forward. Amber could not help but smile at the man.

"The people on this space station have been infected with a toxic that made them into crazed blood thirsty lunatics. There is space ship at a distance away from the space station that needs to be refuel but the closest fueling station is this space station filled with murderous individuals. What I am going to do is unload the fuel off of this space station and deliver it to the space ship. The problem is that Chuck is trying to save the people on this space station by unleashing the antidote by himself. Your mission is simple: You are Chuck's backup. You have to protect your friend's back. I have equipped this robot with two blasters. They are guns that shoots laser. The blasters are set to stun so that you do not kill them. The inhabitants are not in the right state of mind, so killing is bad. However, I made sure that you should not run out of energy out of these blasters. I made sure that the robot does not run out of energy. You can make this robot go at its top speed with no worries. The problem that you will have is that his robot can be destroyed. Once that happens, you are no good to Chuck. So be safe."

"Where is Chuck?" ask Morgan.

"Hold on." Jenny step back. The map suddenly receive a red bar showing to the center of the station.

"Morgan. Follow the red line on the map and it will lead you to Chuck."

"No problem. Let me figure out the controllers."

Morgan press one button and the right arm move. Jenny takes a step away from the robot to avoid the line of fire.

Morgan presses another button the left arm move. Morgan then makes the robot go forward and backward. He then moves the head to look up and down. He fires the blaster at the wall.

"OK. Figure it out. How much time do I have?" ask Morgan.

"Not much. The quicker you are the better." said Jenny.

"Well, let's go save my best friend." proclaim Morgan as he made the robot speed off.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Chuck repositions himself on the rope. It is a slow process, but necessary. His situation had become less than ideal. Beside, he did not like the feeling of blood going to his brain while hanging upside down. Once he is right side up, Chuck look down at all of the infected people that want to tear into him. Their eyes are still bloody red and they look very angry at him. They have their hands extends up in the air trying to reach the rope. Chuck gives a silent thanks to the rope for being strong enough to hold him. He looks at the device that is far enough for him not to reach it. He looks back at the infected people trying to jump and reach him.

Chuck could see that he is in a state of limbo and he did not like it.

Thankfully, Chuck's original plan did not have to change. All Chuck had to do is simply ignore the blood thirsty distraction. Chuck look at the blaster at hand. While this position is not ideal for him to shoot, Chuck is confident enough to shoot his target.

With his many hours of first person shooting games, many hours on playing Duck Hunt, and training with John Casey, the shoot is not hard. With the Intersect in his mind, the shoot is almost a guarantee.

As he pulls the trigger, Chuck could feel a sense of relief at the sense of accomplishment that he will accomplish.

What happen next shatter that relief.

A person just flow in the line of fire, blocking the blast from hitting the target.

Chuck simply stares at the person falling back at the ground. For a second, Chuck thought it did not happen the way he thought he saw it.

Chuck places his attention back on the infected people below him. What he saw was something he did not expect.

He sees the infected people slowly picking up a skinny infect person. Chuck watch at the curious thing. It almost looks like they were going to launch the person up in air. It is like a sick twisted version of a cheerleaders maneuver or an odd version of an X-men/Wolverine move.

"You have to be kidding me." said Chuck. He watches as they launch the small person at him.

The person that they threw at Chuck flies past him and falls back onto the ground. Chuck looks down to see another person slowing getting up on their hand.

"Nope. They are not kidding." Chuck's mind starts to think of a way to combat this new variable.

* * *

Jenny looks at the controls. Being a quarantine 10 situation, Jenny knew that the control panel is locked. She aims her screwdriver at it to unlock it. After making its magical noise, she places it back in her pocket. She looks at control to find the buttons to open the dock doors.

Jenny is in the control room for the dock. This room's computer is completely separated from the station's main computer and energy source. The theory is that the dock of a space station had to be self reliant in case of emergency. While Jenny admires the line of thinking, she did not appreciate the extra work she had to do in order to open the dock doors.

Once Jenny found it, she set the dock doors to open after 5 minutes. She figures that it gives her enough time to get from the control booth back to her ship. Once set, Jenny races back to her ship.

She stands underneath her ship.

"Teleport." commands Jenny.

Within half of a second, she is standing in her ship.

"Ship. Prepare to depart. Is the fuel cells secure?" ask Jenny to the ship.

"Yes."

"Did you do another security scan on yourself?"  
"Yes. We are free of all surprises."

"Good. I think that I have bought us and Chuck some time. Maintain all video feeds on Chuck. I want to know what is going on in that room."

"Yes." reply the ship. "Doors are opening."

"Let's get going. I want to be back here as soon as possible."

Jenny wishes Chuck and Morgan good luck as her ship slowly back away from the door and onto space.

* * *

The little robot speeds as fast as it can through the hallway. It had to. It is being chases by a hoard of murderous crazed infected people.

* * *

"Shoot at them, Morgan." yells out Amber. Amber is standing in front of the sofa and behind Morgan Grimes. For Amber, this situation brought back memories of her brothers. They would never let her play with them when they played Madden football. She was always stuck on the sofa yelling at the television screen.

Morgan is sitting on the floor of the entertainment room. There is a can of grape soda on the table beside him. Morgan had Amber move the table so he can see the television without anything blocking his vision.

"Not yet." answer Morgan as he occasionally looks at the map.

"Seriously? You do realize that there are ten crazy eyed maniacs chasing you?" ask Amber, who is seriously considering getting one of her fellow mates to take over for Morgan Grimes.

"Amber. Do you realize who you are talking to?" ask Morgan to his fellow agent.

"Who am I talking to?"

"Amber. On my days off, I spend countless hours playing video games until I see double. I have worn Depends, just so I can beat a game. I have spent hours reading about every game that has crossed the Buy More's doors. I have also made illegal copies of video games and 'borrowed' games. My diet consists of Red Bull and Doritos just so I can play a game for 48 hours, which I may add, is a bad idea. Do you know what that means?"  
"What?"

"It means that I know what I am doing here." Morgan smile as he looks at the map. If he reads it right, the elevator is straight ahead. His smile grows as he sees the elevator doors ahead of him.

On his way to save his best friend, Morgan Grimes test the robot. He had to makes sure that he got the controls right. He had to make sure that he had an idea how this robot in the future would move. The thing that he fears the most is the delay.

The fact that the robot is so far in the future, made Morgan scared on operating the robot. It did not take a genius to figure that there should be a time delay on when he presses the button on the control and when the robot moves. Whatever Jenny did, she account for that and eliminated that problem. On how she did it, Morgan did not care.

In the end, it meant one thing: Morgan had the robot figured out and know how to move the robot in a frightening fashion.

As the elevator doors start to open, Morgan makes the robot spins a 180 in order to face the upcoming horde. He then makes the robot to speed backward into the elevator. Like any video gamer, Morgan fires his blaster on the unsuspecting mob.

As the elevator doors close, Morgan smiles as he sees the last image of the hallway is an unconscious mob.

Amber look at Morgan, impressed by the man.

"My name is Morgan Grimes. How do you like me so far?" said a very confident Morgan to the unconscious mob as he jumps to his feet in victory.

* * *

Chuck looks down at the rope to see an infected person hanging onto the rope. He could see fear in the person's eye. He must have figured that he was not going to be able to hang onto the rope.

Chuck points his blaster at him and fires. Once hit, the infected person let go of the rope. He is caught by the crowd underneath him. The crowd places the man down on the floor and places their focus on Chuck.

Chuck did not like what is happening. The crowd of infected people got smarter. As opposed to launching people at Chuck, they placed their focus on the rope. They are now launching their people up in the air directly underneath the rope in hopes of grabbing the rope and climbing it.

Chuck look around. He sees that all the infected getting ready to launch another person at him in order to distract him from the crowd underneath him. Without hesitation, he shoots at the person. The blast force the man off of the crowd and back on the floor.

He fire at the crowd with precision, hoping it could buy him time to fire at the device.

When Chuck feels a tug on the rope, he had to look down.

"C'mon!" yells out Chuck. Whatever advantage Chuck had is completely gone. What discouraged Chuck is the fact that there is another one right behind him, climbing the rope. Chuck fire at the infected person. His fall takes the guy behind him down with him.

Without missing a beat, the infected throws another at the rope.

Chuck could feel the ache in his arms and sweat coming down his forehead.

He had something else to worry about: Himself and his own strength. Sooner or later, he is going to let go of the rope out of sheer exhaustion.

As another infected caught the rope, Chuck felt a small movement down. Chuck looks up and realizes something: The load on the rope. If enough infected people gets on the rope, the rope will sooner or later will give out.

"Not good. Not good at all." said Chuck. Without thinking about it, he starts to climb the rope.

His mission is coming apart at the seams. Chuck had to make the strategic retreat.

* * *

"Amber, how is it going out there?" ask Morgan as he makes the little robot speed out of the elevator once the doors open. This hallway is the hallway leading to the center of the space station. Unlike the medical floor, this floor is not neat and empty. It is filled with the infected people.

Amber look out of the entertainment room from the doorway. She sees Jeff arguing with Jesse over a customer who is slowly walking away from them with fright on her face. Lester and Tiffany are holding back both individuals.

"Just fine." said Amber as she closes the door. She races back to the sofa. Amber could not help but look at the second controller. She wanted so bad to join Morgan in this mission. She looks at the television screen to see the video feed. Her heart could not slow down. Thankfully the infected people are racing away from the robot.

"Good." said Morgan, not really paying attention on Amber. Morgan makes the little robot fire at the infected people from behind.

Morgan did not feel any guilt for firing while their back is toward him. Thankfully, Morgan only stuns them. He makes the robot walk on the unconscious bodies.

"Just hang in there, buddy. I am on my way." said Morgan to Chuck.

* * *

Chuck did not have many choices as he found climb the rope more difficult then climbing down. He can let go of the rope while he still have strength to fight back. This only means that he had to fight the mob. Success rate: None.

Chuck could stay on the rope, look for an opening and take his shot. That plan only relies on an opening which may never come to him. However, once exhaustion hits, he will fall on the ground onto the mob. Success rate: Snowball chance in hell.

Chuck can climb the rope back to the air ducts and look for another opening. The only problem is that the infected people are climbing the rope in order to chase him. Success rate: Not good, but not bad.

As Chuck stop and fires at the mob, he could see the little girl off on the distance. She had opened all the doors wide open and is still screaming. She is attracting too much attention. All of the infected people outside the doors are now coming in.

"Sorry, little girl." said Chuck as he aims his blaster at the girl. Once he feels a hand on his foot, Chuck point his blaster back down on the infected person who slip by his attention. He fires his gun, knocking the man off the rope.

"Not cool, dude." Chuck realizes his chances are not good. "C'mon, miracle. Where are you?"

* * *

"Do you hear that?" ask Amber. It is faint but it is getting louder.

"Yeah. That sounds like a little girl screaming." said Morgan as he takes down another infected person. His firing is gathering some attention. Thankfully it is not all of the infected paying attention to him. "Whatever is going on, it is sure attracting the mob away from me."

"I notice that. They are running away from you."

"No, they are running toward something." concludes Morgan. His smile is gone. This situation had gotten serious as the thought hit him.

"Crap! They are running towards Chuck." said Amber as she figures out what is going on.  
"Yep."  
Morgan turns the corner and sees a mob of people running towards an open room with a little girl screaming.

Morgan could see her eyes from the distance. He notices that all the infected had those dark creepy red eyes. Based on his extensive video game play, Morgan figures that the girl is their alarm system. It made sense. She looks innocent and sweet. Who would suspect her being something very diabolical? The infected mob is running into the room. From a distance, Morgan could hear something being fired. He could hear groaning noise from the infected over the screaming girl.

Morgan fires his blaster at the little girl.

"Sorry, little girl." apologizes Morgan as he makes the robot go into the center of the space station.

"Oh, God." said Amber as she stares at the video feed.

Morgan had to stop the robot.

Morgan did not expect the center of the space station would be big and filled with infected people. They are all staring at the rope that is hanging from an air duct. Amber holds her breath as she sees Chuck hanging from the rope. He is firing at the infected people that are now climbing the rope after him.

Chuck turn to look at the robot for a second.

"That is a lot of people, Morgan." remarks Amber.

"Yep." said Morgan as he let out a breath. "Don't forget about the mission."

"What?"

"Amber. It does not matter how many people there is. It does not matter what the odds are. What matter is that we help Chuck complete the mission. We are his backup. That is what I am here for. I am here to back my friend up."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I have to make myself the center of attention." said Morgan as he smiles.

* * *

With that, Morgan speed the robot into the big room filled with infected people with his blasters blazing.

When Chuck heard the little girl yip and stop screaming, he had to get a quick glance on what shut her up. Chuck hope that it was Jenny. He actually thought that Sarah and John were here and they handle the creepy little girl. What he saw is a robot with two blasters in his metal hands.

Chuck looks at the robot. In turn, the robot looks at him. For a moment, they look at each other. Without warning, the robot speeds into the room, firing its blasters at the infected people.

The infected people turn their attention at the robot as they notice some of their own falling down on the ground.

Chuck places his focus back on the infected people trying to climb the rope. He fires at them, causing them to fall onto the floor. Chuck looks at the robot.

The robot is taking out the infected quickly. While the robot is firing at them with their back turn away from it, the advantage quickly disappears. The infected lost all interest in Chuck and start to chase the robot firing at them.

Chuck could not help but smile.

The smile disappears as he felt two hands on his feet. He looks down and saw that someone did not care for the robot and had only eyes for Chuck.

What happened next, Chuck did not anticipate. The infected person grabs Chuck's feet and let go of the rope. The weight of the additional person was too much for Chuck tired hands and he lets go.

The Intersect flashes and Chuck maneuvers his body. He land on top of the infected person. The poor infected guy landed on his back and pass out.

"Sorry." apologizes Chuck as he steps off of the man. Chuck hopes he did not hurt the infected man too bad. Chuck looks up. Half of the infected people are distracted by the robot while the other half is still trying to figure out what just happened.

"Great." Chuck takes out his other blaster.

Chuck start to fire at the infected people. Whatever plans he had are reduced to shoot them and sort them out later.

* * *

"Captain, this is Jenny." ask Jenny as her ship link up to the space ship Odysseus.

Jenny is only a short distance away from the space ship Odysseus.

"This is the Captain. Please tell me that it is you that is approaching the ship." ask the Captain with a slight worry laces in his voice.

"That is correct. I have the fuel cells loaded on my ship. I will fuel you up without either of us having to leave our ships."

"Can you do that?" ask the Captain.  
"Yes, sir. I made my ship a rescue ship, sir. There is very little that my ship can do." Reply Jenny with a smile.  
"Thank you." said a relived Captain.

"You are welcome. However, I advise that you leave this area and proceed to the next station once you are fueled up. The station is still under level 10 quarantine. I will wait until you get that all clear signal before return this area." Advise Jenny as she maneuvers her ship.  
"What about you?"

"I will deal with the situation on the space station. I still have Chuck to worry about and I promise someone very important to him that I will watch over him." explain Jenny.  
"Very well. I do this under duress. I have people that are under my care that I will not put into danger. I just rather have you on the ship as opposed to leaving you here dealing with this situation."

"Good to hear that." said Jenny. "I am starting the fueling protocols now."

Jenny looks at the video feed from the station. What she saw is Chuck and the robot back to back trying to combat the wave of infected people.

"Just hanging in there. I will be there as soon as possible." said Jenny to the dynamic duo.

* * *

"Look out!" yell out Amber to Morgan as she stand up and point at the television. Morgan makes the robot fire at a leaping infected person. The blast sends the person off to the side.

"Amber!" yells out Morgan.

"What?" ask Amber.

"Don't back seat driver me. I know what I am doing." Reassure Morgan.

"I'm just worried, Morgan. There is too many of them."

"I know that."

"I don't know if you do."

"I can't worry about that now." said Morgan. He moves when Chuck moves. He is making sure that Chuck's back is cover. He just hopes his best bud has a plan.

* * *

Even with the additional help, Chuck could see that their odds were not getting any better. This is where the claustrophobia is kicking in. There are too many people and not enough time for him to get to the button.

To make matter worse, Chuck and the robot are not moving. Chuck had been trying to move toward the area where the button is located at. For a while, it was working. Now they somehow found the spot where they are surrounded by infected.

No matter how many they stun, the number of infected people is not dwindling.

He hears a click from his blaster. Chuck did not bother trying to figure what that click is. He already knows what it is. His blaster is out.

Chuck throws his blaster at an infected person, stunning the guy. He takes out another blaster when he felt them. Suddenly, Chuck knew what he had to do.

"Oh, I hope that you are a smart robot!" yells out Chuck to the robot.

* * *

"He doesn't know that it's you." remark Amber.

"Why would he? I'm a robot." answers Morgan.

"Listen. I need you to get to that button on that machine." said Chuck as he points to the button. "That will release the antidote for these people. Just hit the button. I'll get you some cover."

Amber looks at the video feed. Morgan watch as his friend throws down both blasters and reach inside a pouch. He takes out two weird grenades.

"What the?" said Morgan.

Chuck press a button on the top of the two grenades and throws them down on the ground.

"Oh no." said Amber.  
An explosion of light and smoke erupt. All Morgan and Amber see is a white screen.

"What was that?" ask Morgan.

"The screen is not black. We must not have lost the connection." Point out Amber.  
The screen slowly readjusts and all they could see is the ceiling. Morgan slowly gets the robot up and sees everyone on the ground screaming in pain. Morgan scans the area and notice something important.

"There is no blood."

"I bet that Chuck threw down a flash grenade." remarks Amber. "That is why he told you what to do. He is out of commission. He can't see or hear anything."

"Meaning that I better move." said Morgan as he moves the robot to the machine.

Morgan makes the robot crawl on top of the bodies of the infected. He approaches the button. It was high enough that he could not reach it. Morgan then makes the robot jump. With each jump, he gets higher.

Morgan makes the robot back up and did a running start to jump.

With each jump, Morgan gets closer to the button.

"You almost got it." encourages Amber.

* * *

"Keep going, Morgan." said Jenny as she stares at the live video feed.

* * *

Morgan looks at how closer he is from the button. Once he land back on the ground, he makes the robot look around at the room. Some of the infected people are starting to get up.

"Please work." said Morgan as he makes the robot back up for another jump. He makes the robot speed up. At the last moment, Morgan makes the robot jumps. Morgan presses the button on the control.

He makes the robot fire its blasters at the button.

* * *

Jenny held her breath once she saw Morgan fire at the button.

* * *

The machine starts up. What Morgan and Jenny did not see is the antidote being circulated around the station. They did not see the people not in the room coughing. They did not see that their red bloody eyes slowly getting back to normal. They did not see people falling unconscious as their body going back to normal.

* * *

"Ship. What is the status on the station?" ask Jenny.

"The machine has been activated. Unknown object is being pumped in the station's air supply." said the ship.

"Show me the feed on various parts of the station now." Command Jenny. The ship show

The video feed start to show various parts of the station. Jenny starts to look at the feed, hoping for anything to reveal that the antidote is working.

"STOP!" command Jenny. The feed stops at a room fill with people. What makes this feed is how much Jenny could see. She can see the people's faces as they cough. A smile form on Jenny's face as she sees the eyes on the people's face. They were not blood red, but normal.

"Oh, Morgan Grimes! You fantastic man!" said Jenny as she jump up from her chair in happiness.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Chuck opens his eyes to see a white ceiling. He stares at the ceiling and try to remember why this ceiling looks so unfamiliar. He could feel a headache dancing the tango on his head. Thankfully the pillow is very comfortable to lay his head on.

Chuck could hear some activities outside of his room. It sounds like people moving. Chuck slowly straightens himself up on the bed. He looks around the white room. What he sees almost astonishes him. He sees the robot that came to his rescue. It is standing beside his bed like it is watching over him.

At least he hopes that the robot is there for that reason.

"Well. Look's who finally woke up." said a female voice. Chuck look at the direction of the voice and see Jenny standing at the door way with a big smile on her face.

"Jenny." said Chuck. Jenny walks toward him with a smile on her face.

"How are you feeling?" ask Jenny as she stops at the foot of Chuck's bed.

"Like crap."

"It is to be expected. I must say that you did something pretty stupid and clever at the same time."

"I know." said Chuck as he tries to shake the cobwebs out of his head. He could still remember the flash grenades in his hands. "I had to make some sort of opening for us to get to the button. There was simply too many of them. With the robot as my backup, I was hoping that it was smart enough to figure that out and to understand what I was saying."

Jenny looks at the robot as if it was going to respond. Chuck turn to the robot as it look back at him. Chuck looks back at Jenny.

"What are you doing?" ask Chuck to Jenny.

"Go on. You can say something." encourages Jenny to the robot.

"No way. Don't tell me that the robot can talk." said Chuck as he looks at the robot. He could not help but smile at the thought of an actual talking robot.

"It should." said Jenny. The robot shakes its head side by side. "Well, that can not be right. You should be able to talk. Let me take a look at you."

Jenny walks up to the robot. She takes a closer look at its "skull." She pops off the top of the skull and look at the brain: Chuck's old I phone. She looks closer at the phone.

"Well, there is your problem. Your speaker is messed up. It must have happened during the rescue mission." said Jenny with a smile. "Easy enough to fix."

Jenny pulls out her screwdriver and points it at the skull. Chuck watches as the screwdriver makes its funny noise. He looks at the screwdriver. Chuck remembers Jenny had some sort of futuristic screwdriver that serves like a Swiss army knife. Jenny looks at the phone. She moves it a bit and points her screwdriver at a certain spot. The screwdriver makes its funny sound.

"I would love one of those." whispers Chuck.

Jenny looks at her handiwork and smiles.

"Go on. Say something now." said Jenny.

"Hello." said the robot. Chuck looks at the robot. The voice sounds too familiar. "Can you hear me? I think this thing is still broken."

Chuck looks at the robot, wondering if he did hear the voice right.

"Morgan?" ask Chuck as he stares at the robot.  
"Chuck!" said the robot in surprise. "I just heard that."

"Morgan, is that you?"  
"Chuck! Dude! You can hear me!" yells out Morgan through the speakers.

"Yes, I can. Oh my God! You're my backup." Chuck face lit up with glee and happiness wrapped around a bun of joy.  
"Oh my God! I can't believe this. Dude, is it true?" ask Morgan.

"If you asking if I am in space; Yes." said Chuck with a smile that did not want to come off of his face.  
"That is so awesome." Chuck could hear Morgan's voice laced with rainbows and happiness.  
"That is not the best part." said Chuck.  
"What's the best part?" ask Morgan.

"I was in a space ship."  
"No way."  
"Yes."

"Dude, you have to tell me everything." commands Morgan.

"Oh it is amazing, dude. I wish you could have seen it."  
Jenny slowly slips out of the room with a smile. She knew better than to get in the way of a best friends' conversation.

Jenny walks down the medical floor. There is a janitor who is mopping the floor. Jenny could see the windows to the other rooms. The whole floor had been filled with people from the station. The doctors had been running test to be sure that everyone on the station had been cured. Security had been combing the floor to make sure that no one is still infected. So far, everyone on the station had been cured. Chuck and Morgan had saved the space station. Jenny could not help but be proud of the two men.

"Jenny." Jenny stops walking and turn toward the sound of the voice. She sees a woman approaching her. The short black haired woman is wearing a black uniform. With the words 'security' written on the front of her shirt, Jenny wonders what the upcoming conversation would be about.

"Yes." answers Jenny.

"Hi. Let me introduce myself. My name is Katherine and I am in charge with security on this space station." Katherine extends her hand out to Jenny.

"Nice to meet you." Jenny shakes Katherine's hand.  
"No. Trust me when I say this: The pleasure is completely all mine. You have no idea what you and your friend did for us." Katherine simply gives Jenny a smile.

"Do not thank me. I did nothing. My friend was the one that did most of the work. All I did was provided him the support that he needed." explains Jenny to Katherine.

"Well, I must thank him." said Katherine.

"Give him a moment. He is having a conversation with his best friend." said Jenny to the chief of security.

"I will." said Katherine. "When we received that message from the captain of the Odysseus, we were shocked and happy all at the same time. We know what Level 10 quarantine is and what happens afterwards. I will say that I am glad that you and your friend did not give up on us." Jenny could see the relief on Katherine's face.

"The Captain of the Odysseus figures that you needed a message to explain why you were in Level 10 quarantine and why I should be allowed back on the station."  
"I have already thanked the Captain. He wanted me to tell you that he will meet you at the next station. I think that is the space station, Niedtyadea."

"You are correct. How is everyone?" ask Jenny as she look around at the medical floor.  
"Looks like we have everyone accounted for. Most of them are in their rooms resting. Now, my problem is making sure that this sort of situations does not happened again." said Katherine. Her smile goes away and replaces with a frown. "I can't believe that man is still out there."

"Major Tom?"

"Yes. He has been in and out of prison for too long. I do not think anyone of us would have thought that he was capable of this sort of terrorism. Someone has to put him away." points out Katherine as she looks around the area.

"Well. I can assure you this: I will find him." said Jenny. Her smile disappears.

"Are you serious?" ask Katherine.  
"Let's just say that I am making it a priority to put Major Tom away." said Jenny as she walks away from Katherine.

* * *

Morgan walks into the bar with a person singing karaoke. He looks on stage to see one of his fellow Buy More co workers singing a Black Eye Peas. It did bring a smile on his tired face as he watches the man display his dance moves with the song.

It is now 10:00 in the evening. The infamous bar has become a hangout for the Buy More employees. The main reason is the fact that it had karaoke night.

Morgan looks around the bar to see most of the employees were here, even the CIA recruits.

He could see Thomas Monroe, CIA agent and former con man, giving money to most of the Buy More employees. He can see from a distance that Jake Harding is being hit on my one of the few females that works at the Buy More. Morgan can tell that he did not appreciate the unwanted attention but he can tell that William was enjoying the sight of Jake squirming.

Morgan simply walks up to the bar counter and take an empty seat. Right now, he did not feel too energized to hang with the crew.

"Morgan Grimes." said the female bartender with a surprise tone in her voice. She is an older woman with shoulder length brown hair. She is dressed respectively, but everyone can tell that she can kick everyone's butt if they get out of line. "It's been a long time. Where have you been hiding?

"Hey, Ellen." answers Morgan. "I have a girlfriend now. I figure that I would have more fun with her then with the crew."

Both individuals look at the patrons in the bar. It is not a pretty sight.

"Good call, Morgan. What can I get you?" said Ellen the bartender.

Can I just get a lite beer?" Morgan gives Ellen a smile.  
"Sure." The brown haired bartender opens up a bottle for Morgan and places it in front of him. Morgan takes a big drink out of the bottle and start replaying his conversation with his best friend.

_ "Dude, what happened to you on the roof?" asks Morgan. The last time Morgan saw his friend was on the roof of the Buy More with a bomb that looks like a cappuccino machine. Once Morgan came back with William to try and defuse it, both the bomb and Chuck disappeared. _

_ "Somehow, I activated a teleporting system in that bomb..."_

_ "You mean like Star Trek?" asks Morgan who is praying for a yes._

_ "Yep."_

_ "That is so cool."_

_ "Not really. After it happened, I thought I was going to throw up. By the way, you're right. I owe you five dollars." said Chuck to the robot/best friend._

_ "Really? How come?" ask Morgan._

_ "You remember our talk about the hazard of teleporting in Star Trek."_

_ "I think that I said that it is too unrealistic that they always seem to find a peaceful spot to teleport. In real life, we would have been teleported in a jail cell filled with murderers." said Morgan. _

_ "Guess what happened to me on my first time of teleporting. I teleported in a middle of a fight with a psychopath." said Chuck. _

_ "I don't want to say it, but I will: I told you so."_

_ "You're right buddy."_

_ "Dude, when are you coming back?" ask Morgan the question that has been on his mind._

_ "I don't know." answer Chuck. _

_ "What?"_

_ "Morgan. Jenny said that she is taking me back home in two days."_

_ "That's great."_

_ "No, Morgan. You don't get it. Major Tom is still out there."_

_ "What? Wasn't he on the space station?" ask Morgan. The one thing that Morgan cannot do is hide his emotion. The slight fright is in his voice. _

_ "No."_

_ "Crap. He could come after us, if he wanted to." said Morgan._

_ "Jenny said that he might not. But if he wanted to, yeah he can." said Chuck. He let out a sigh of frustration. "I think Jenny is going after him."_

_ "That's a good thing, Right?" ask Morgan. _

_ "I don't know, Morgan. I think that if she does, she might do something….."_

_ "Look. I understand. But, she knows what she is doing." reassures Morgan to his best friend.  
"Morgan, I think it is Ra's Al Ghul complex."_

_ "Really?" said Morgan. He let out his sigh of frustration. In the comics, Ra's al Ghul is a formidable opponent for Batman. The problem is the fact that he is as smart as Batman if not smarter. The fact that he knows Batman's secret identity gave Ra's an edge over Batman. He could figure what Batman would do. "Well that is not good."_

_ "Exactly. He seems to know her too well. If I was not here, Morgan, I think she would have been screwed."_

_ "You don't know that." comments Morgan. _

_ "Dude. You saw how many people that was on the station. I hate to say this to you, buddy. But you did not see all of them."  
"You mean that there was more."_

_ "Yeah."_

_ "Crap." said Morgan. He did not want to know how many more infected people were on the station.  
"If I know Jenny, she would have tried to save the people first before going for the fuel cells. With this many people, I don't know if she would have made it or not. At least with me helping, her chances were better. I am willing to bet that Major Tom will not stop until he has her where he wants her." said Chuck.  
Morgan looks at his friend on the video feed. He did not need Chuck to draw him a picture. Just what he has read and seen on the footage of the Buy More, Major Tom had that murderous vibe. _

"_Morgan. I am not staying with her forever. I am just going to help her with Major Tom. That is it." reassure Chuck to his best friend. _

_ "What am I going to tell Sara or Ellie?"_

_ "Tell them the truth: I am on a mission. I contacted them when I can."_

_ "Jeez. Leave me the hard part." _

_ "Morgan. Other then Casey or Devin, there is no other person I can trust watching over them."_

_ "Just get back safe." said Morgan._

Morgan brought himself back to the present. The conversation was not what he wanted, just what he had to settle for. He looks around the bar.

"Are they behaving? asks Morgan to Ellen. The bartender smile a bit.

It was not too long ago, that the bartender had to worry about Morgan Grimes. She can still remember the time that a few of Buy More employees brought Morgan to the bar for his 21st birthday. The night ended with her enforcing the bar code over their heads.

Ellen looks at him and sees that he has changed a little bit. There is a touch of maturity that in on the bearded one. Not too much to make him old, just responsible.  
"So far. Although I have my doubt on those newbies that you guys hired." comment Ellen.  
"Really?" Morgan looks at the new individuals that she is mentioning. He could see that the CIA recruits are now sitting together with a table with a bucket filled with bottled beer. Amber slams a shot while William cannot stop laughing at Jake. Jesse and Tiffany just shake their head at the sight.  
"Yeah. They came in a few days ago and started a fight. Thankfully they took it outside. I called the cops and they took them away. A lot of good that did. Now they are back."

"Oh. I did not know." Morgan looks back at the group and sighs. "Crap."

"What's wrong?" asks Ellen.  
"I got to make sure that they don't get into trouble." answer Morgan.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm in charge of the new guys."

"Really? You?"

"I know."

"I'm sorry to hear that because they were not easy to control especially with the police."

"I know." said Morgan. "Do me a favor."  
"You want me to water down their drinks."

"Please."

"I got you cover, Morgan."

"Thanks."

Without warning, someone sits beside Morgan. He turned and sees Amber holding her drink. He looks at the drink and notices that it is the infamous hairy buffalo. He already knows what is going to happened. The question is how much time he has before the future CIA agent does something stupid.

"How many have you have, Amber?" ask Morgan.

"I had about three of the hairy buffalos." said Amber as she starts to nod her head.

"That is not good." said a worried Morgan.

"It could be worse."  
"Yeah."

"Yeah. I could be Tiffany and Lester. They just downed 5 a piece." Said Amber with a big smile.  
"Oh God." said Morgan as he shakes in his head in defeat. The night just got harder.

"Good news, though." said Amber.

"What's that?"  
"They decided that they did not like your contest anymore. They figured that drunken karaoke is the best way for them to settle their difference." said Amber.

"Oh no. The first one, who messes up a song, loses. Every other song, they take a shot." said Morgan. He wants to hear those words out in public to be sure that they were talking about the same thing.

"Yep." acknowledges Amber with the drunken smile.

"Did they pick the judges already?"  
"Yep. Jeff and Jesse." Amber points out Jeff and Jesse. Jesse had already walked away from her CIA table and is now sitting beside Jeff. It looks like they are now sharing a plate filled of nachos. Morgan notices a weird smile on Jeff's face.

"That's weird."

"You must be talking about Jeff. He just saw Tiffany's boobies." Proclaim Amber.

"OH." said Morgan as if everything made sense now. "That is why he has been working hard today."

"Yep. Tiffany bribed him with his favorite things: Beer and boobies."

"It explains everything." Amber slowly moves her face closer to Morgan and observes him for a second.

"You're a cutie." said Amber with a smile.

"Excuse me? What?" Morgan is shock by Amber's statement.

"You're cute."

"Where did that come from?" asks Morgan.  
"What do you mean?"

"Beer and boobies? How does that equal to me being a cutie. By the way, thanks." said Morgan as he accepts a compliment from the pretty future agent. Even though he is dating Alex, he will take any compliment from a pretty woman at any time.

"You're welcome. Besides the math equals up; Beer plus boobies = Morgan. See."

"No." Morgan did not like to see how this conversation is going.  
"Let me show you." Without warning, Amber kisses Morgan. For the first time ever, Morgan had a surprised face. Amber pulls away from Morgan with a smile. "See."

"Um." said a shock Morgan. "What?"

"You were not really good in math. Do I have to show you again?"  
"Um."

"What Morgan is trying to say is no." said a familiar voice. Amber's eyes widen and her smile is gone. She looks behind Morgan. Morgan did not have to look. He can see the person because of the mirror behind the bar. John Casey has returned.

"Casey." said Morgan. He turns around and hugs him.

"What the?" said shock John Casey.

"Dude. I miss you so much."

"Get off." said John as he tries to get Morgan off of him. Morgan let go of his death grip.

"Dude. When did you get in?" ask Morgan.  
"Just got in. Sarah is driving the Smiths to the airport. I figured that I should make sure that all of our recruits are still alive." said John as he looks around the bar.  
"All accounted for and they are all alive." said Morgan.

"I can see that. Not exactly what I have in mind though."

"Sorry. It has been a long day." said Morgan.

"He saved Chuck's ass." said Amber as she tries to get off the chair. Based on prior experience with Jeff, Morgan grabs Amber before she falls.

"What?" said John.

"Long story, Casey. But Chuck's alive." Morgan looks at Casey. The normal poker face that he always carries shows a slight sign of emotion: relief. "Chuck's not here, but I did talk to him."

"What did he say?" asks Casey.  
"Mission's not finished yet. Major Tom is still out there. He is going try to stop him." said Morgan as he places Amber back on her chair.

"Did he say where he was at?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Is it far far away in a time long long ago?" ask Casey, hoping that Morgan would get the reference.

"Yeah. It is." reply Morgan.

"Crap." said a frustrated John Casey.

"Dude." said Morgan. "Have some faith in Chuck. He will be back."

John looks at Morgan. He never had John's experiences. Morgan never had to deal with these types of situations. Still…. Morgan had something that John wanted: Hope and faith in his friend. John decided to take his own advice, which he gave to Sarah Walker.

"Fine." said John. He looks around the bar. "Let's get our crew home. Tomorrow is still a work day."

"OK." said Morgan as he relinquishes his control over the recruits. Morgan put Amber back on her chair.

"You take the Buy More Morons. I'll take my morons." said John as he looks around at the bar.

"Yes, sir." said Morgan as he places Amber in Casey's arm.

* * *

Morgan walks down the stairs of the Castle. Dealing with his Buy More crew was easy. The majority of them did not have to work the next day. Lester and Jeff, on the other hand, had to be told to go home. Ellen did not want them here tonight under their condition. They drank too much and they were now singing show tune from a Broadway play, a sign that they should be cut off. Morgan did what he always did: He dropped them on the floor of the entertainment center at the Buy More to sleep it off.

Morgan sees John Casey sitting on the conference table with a glass and a bottle of Jack and manila folders.

"Well, how was the recruits?" ask Morgan.  
"Drunk, but not stupid. The moment that Amber announces that I was there, everyone got professional. They stop drinking and went home." Said John as he take a drink from the glass filled with Jack.  
"Tiffany?" ask Morgan.

"I got Amber and Tiffany in the cells down here. They're sleeping it off."  
"So, why are you here?"  
"When they wake up, I am going to make sure that their hangover is the worst one that they ever had." John said it with a smile. Morgan did not want to imagine what that meant.

Morgan notices the files that were beside John.

"What's with the files?" asks Morgan.

"I have been reviewing the recruits' progress."  
"Really? So soon." said Morgan as he takes a seat in front of John Casey.

"Mostly first impressions. Nothing really big."

"First impression?"

"Yeah. I have to file a report to General Beckman and tell her if I think if the recruits have what it takes for a long term assignment." explains John as he pours the Jack in the glass.  
"What? How can you if you have not been here for the past few days?" point out Morgan.

John points the clicker at the screen. The screen show video feed of Buy More, the Castle, the bar, Lou's deli, and Subway.

"Dude. That's just creepy." said Morgan.

"Blame it on Chuck. I had to put the cameras in a bunch of places that I did not think I had to because of him. I have been looking at videos feeds to check their progress."  
"Really." said Morgan as he start to wonder where else John Casey had installed cameras.

"Especially when we were gone."

"Oh."

John Casey tosses a file to Morgan. Morgan looks at the file and sees his name is on it.

"I don't think I should read that."

"Well, I'll tell you what it said." said John Casey.  
"Huh?"  
"It said that Agent Grimes still has a lot to learn about being a spy. He is not very subtle and is at times very immature. However, it has been proven that he takes orders well. It is also shown that he is loyal. It has also been demonstrated that he has leadership skills that has not been shown in the past. He is able to command respects from his fellow recruits and civilians. He makes it a point to anticipate potential problems and tries to find solutions to them. It is under this agent's recommendation that he continues the program." said John Casey. Morgan looks at the agent to see that he is completely serious in his assessment. John's face told Morgan all he needed to know.

"Whoa."

"Morgan. While Sarah and I were dealing with the Jenny situation, you were maintaining control over my recruits. You had to deal with not only the Buy More, but bored recruits. Maintaining the Buy More is hard enough, but dealing with these guys had to be tough." explains John Casey.

"Yes, they are."

"Noted. The point is that you maintain control and order. While it was not perfect, it was maintain. Morgan, you did a good job."

"It didn't feel like it."

"Morgan, I walk into the bar and saw the recruits having drinking with the Buy More employees. You just help them maintain their cover. That is not easy for any spy. Now take the compliment before I change my mind."  
"Yes, sir." Morgan looks at the file and picks it up. He opens up the file to see his picture and vital stats. He looks at the next page and saw John Casey's recommendation. He smiles. It is exactly how he said it.

"Now that is out of the way." said John Casey. "Tell me what happened with Chuck."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Chuck looks at the sight. It is a view that most people could only dream about. This view is the view that could change everyone's life. He could not believe what he is looking at. It is something that will probably not be seen by anyone on Earth. Still, he could not help but smile at the sight. In Chuck's mind, he is thanking the universe for allowing him to see this.

Jenny and Chuck are on an asteroid, sitting on a blanket watching the sight that has grabbed Chuck's attention. Both individuals are wearing orange space suits with helmets providing them oxygen to breathe in outer space.

Jenny smiles at Chuck. His attention is to the sight in front of him and not to her. She cannot blame the guy. It is a very beautiful sight that he is watching. She would have been worried about him if he had his attention on her. Jenny turns and places her sights on the scene playing out in front of them. It did take her breath away.

From a distance, there are two comets that are crisscrossing each other. It is a phenomenal that is impossible, yet it is happening before their eyes. To the untrained eye, the two comets look like they are playing with each other.

The couple watches as the comets pass them by in silence.

"Wow!" said Chuck.

"Pretty?" ask Jenny to her companion.

"It's so beautiful. I thought the black hole was fantastic, but this takes the cake." said Chuck as he gets up from the blanket and walk toward the comets in order to get a better look at them. Jenny gets up from the blanket and gently grabs Chuck's arm. She did not want the man to walk off the edge of the asteroid.  
"Well, there is this civilization in the Northern Galaxy. They get to see this phenomenon every decade. They hold a festival every time it comes by. They have rides, a grand banquet, and balloons. They have a lot of balloons." said Jenny.

"Balloons?" asks Chuck.

"Oh, Chuck. It is wonderful. They are not ordinary balloon. These balloons are mimicking the comets. They crisscross each other as they go up in the air. When you release these balloons, they fly in the air like the comets. The colors on these balloons cover the whole spectrum. When the sun goes down and when everyone can see the stars in the sky, everyone lets go of their balloons. The whole sky just fills up with these balloons. It is a splendid sight.  
"No way." Chuck look at Jenny and wonder what other spectacular things that she has seen.

"Trust me. It is a sight to behold."

"I could imagine." reply Chuck as he look back at the comets.

"During the festival, they even conduct weddings. They wait until the comets pass by before anyone says their vows. Legend has it that if you get married when the comets pass by, your marriage will be a joyful one." explains Jenny.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"When will these comets pass by Earth?" said Chuck as a thought enter into his mind.  
"Sadly enough, they never will." said Jenny.

"Oh." said a disappointed Chuck. He looks at the comets. "They are beautiful."

"Legends also said that if two people catch the first glimpse of the two comets at the same time that they are destined to marry within ten years." said Jenny.

"What?" said a shocked Chuck. He looks at Jenny. She looks at him with a serious face.

Jenny smile at him and then start to laugh.

"You were making that up." realizes Chuck as she collapses on the asteroid in laughter.

"Just the last part." said Jenny as she stops laughing. She slowly sits up from the ground. "The rest was true. Oh, Chuck. I could not help myself."  
"Thanks." said Chuck. He did not bother hiding his frustration at falling for an obvious trick.

"Do not be angry." said Jenny as she flashes a small smile at him. She slowly gets up from the ground.

"If it was not for this…" Chuck points at the comets. "I probably would have been."

Both individuals catch the final glimpse of the two comets. Once they could not see the comets any longer, Jenny and Chuck start walking back to the ship which is flying just at the edge of the asteroid.

"We are ready." said Jenny. Within seconds, Jenny and Chuck disappear from the asteroid and reappear inside Jenny's ship.

After taking off the suits, both individuals sits on their respective seats, Jenny in her pilot chair and Chuck beside her.  
"Well. I figure that you should see this before I take you home." said Jenny as she start pushing some buttons on her console.

"About that." said Chuck. He already knows what Jenny is going to do and he did not want her to do it alone.

"Do not argue with me." said Jenny.

"Jenny."

"Don't." Jenny stops pushing the button. "This is not an argument. I am taking you home to your sister, to Sarah, to your life. This is not your fight."

"You can't do this alone." Counter Chuck to the female Time Lord.

"Chuck. I made myself very clear. This is not your fight." Jenny looks at Chuck. Chuck gulp silently. There is a cold hard resolute in her stare. It sends a chill up his spine that he never got from the Time Lord. This is a fight that he is not going to win. "I have lost too many people because of this man. I cannot afford to lose another one."

"OK." said Chuck.

"Good." Jenny gives a small smile to Chuck. She could tell that she may have hurt his feelings. "Thank you."

"For what?" ask Chuck.

"For helping. For being brave. For being stupid. For wanting to help. For being kind. For just living." Jenny places her focus back on the console and start pushing buttons. "Now then, let's get you home."

The ship starts coming to life. The ship give a little shake as it prepares to take off. Chuck grabs the arms of the seat. Then engines start to blare up with life. The ship moves away from the asteroid.

"Everything is clear." said Jenny to herself. "Ship, activate the time converter."

"Activating the time converter." reply the ship's computer.

Chuck could hear the time converter come alive. He looks at the time converter that is behind him. The sound reminded him of an old radiator found in old school buildings.

"Gulp." said Chuck.

"Are you ready, Chuck?" ask Jenny.

"Ready for what?"  
"Traveling though time, of course." replies Jenny with a big smile.

"Yeah."

"Let's go." Jenny slams her hand on a big red button that is on the ship console. The shields lower on the windscreen of the ship.

"Why is that going down?" ask Chuck as he point at the shields.

"Oh, that is to protect your eyes from the time vortex." answers Jenny.

"Why?"

"Oh, people have a habit of going nuts if they stare at the time vortex for too long." answer Jenny in way that makes it seems that it happens all the time.

"Oh. That would be problem." said Chuck with an image of him wearing a Napoleon hat in his mind.

"It could be." said Jenny.

Once the shield is down, Chuck could feel the ship start to shake.

"Is it supposed to do that?" ask Chuck as he realize that his grip on the arms of his seat tighten.

"You may want to put on your seat belt." said Jenny. Without any hesitation, Chuck put the seat belt on.

The ship started to shake violently.

"OH, BOY!" said Chuck.

"Hang on." said Jenny as she starts pushing on buttons and moving levers that are on the console. She looks at a video screen that had some sort of images.

Jenny knew that Chuck would not know what is happening. The violent shakes are Jenny's indicator that the ship has slipped into the time vortex. She knows that the ship is violently flying in the time vortex.

Once the ship flip upside, Chuck reinforces his death grip on the chair.

"Can I scream?" ask Chuck.

"If you want." said Jenny without looking away from the video screen. "It is pretty normal for first timers."  
"Good." With that Chuck screams.

Jenny smiles. She looks at the consoles. Without warning, the ship starts to spin around.

"IS THAT NORMAL!" yells out Chuck.

Jenny did not respond. Chuck did not wait for an answer to resume his screaming. Jenny pulls down a level by her left hand. The ship stops spinning. Chuck opens his eyes. He looks to his right and saw a brown bag. He grabs it and vomit into it.

Jenny starts to auto correct her ship, trying to keep the ship from moving more violently.

Jenny did not pay attention to Chuck, who closes the bag up. As quick as it started, the violent shake, rattle and roll simply stop. Jenny waits for a minute. After the minute, she hits the button and the shield goes up.

Jenny looks at the windshield and saw a blue planet.

"Wow! It looks so blue." said Chuck as he observes the new sight before him.

"Yeah." said Jenny as she looks at the planet. Her smile disappears. "There is problem."

"What?"

"I don't know but something is very wrong." said Jenny as she looks at the blue marble in space.

Jenny looks at the console and presses some buttons. She then looks at a screen which Chuck could not see. He dare not stand up or move for fearing that he may vomit again.

"No." said Jenny.

"What's wrong?" ask Chuck as he could see the concern on Jenny's face.

Jenny press some buttons and an enlarged image appear on the windshield. Chuck look at it and fright nearly engulf him. He did not know why.

"What's that?" ask Chuck, hoping that she would explain it to him.

"Something that should not be there." answers Jenny. "Computer enlarges the image ten times."  
Both look at the image as it enlarges itself. It is a fleet of ships that has surrounds the planet that looks like Earth.

"Who are they?" ask Chuck.

"Chuck, that fleet of ships is the Dalek fleet." answers Jenny.

"Oh. We are talking about the mini tank bent on the destruction of all life?" asks Chuck.

"Yes, how do you know?"

"Major Tom left a present on the roof of the Buy More. It was a Dalek converted into a bomb. Martha filled me in on what it was." Said Chuck, whose own concern is increasing.  
"Well, it is a fleet of them. They are very much alive and there is more then one." said Jenny. Jenny move the enlarge image around to look at the surrounding area.

"What are you doing?" ask Chuck.

"Looking at the stars."

"And?"  
"They are all wrong." said Jenny with a frown.

"What?"

"The stars. The alignment is all wrong. There are stars that should not be there and there are some stars that are not there. Chuck, something is wrong and I do not know what it is."  
"Oh." Chuck look at the screen. "Are we safe out here?"

"Excuse me?"

"There is a fleet of killer mini tanks out there and we are over here. Think they notice us yet?"

"Ship is equipped with the latest stealth technology. When I mean latest, I mean so far in the future that it is practically invisible." answers Jenny hoping that it reassures her companion.

"OK, I can breath easier."  
"Chuck."

"Yeah."

"I cannot figure out what is going on."

Chuck looks at Jenny. She looks like that she is on the verge of simply freaking out. He had seen it before. Mostly he has seen himself to that too many times.

"OK. This is not a bad thing yet. We are alive and the killer mini tanks have not seen us." said Chuck, hoping that looking at the bright side of the situation would keep Jenny from freaking out.  
"Daleks."

"OK. Daleks. This is a good thing. The question is what is the question?"

"Excuse me?"

"What is the question?" ask Chuck.

"The question." Jenny looks at him with curiosity. "We know what is wrong. No wait. That is not correct. We do not know what is wrong. The only thing that we know is that the stars are wrong and that a fleet of Daleks has surrounded Earth. That is all we know. The star and the fleet is not what is wrong but are only the symptoms which can only tell us that something had to happen that is the questionwhathappentocauseall ?

"What?" ask Chuck as he did not get the last part of that statement.  
"Sorry, I forget to breath."

"OK.

"What I am trying to say is that what else is wrong and what cause for all of this to happen?" Jenny looks at the screen. "Wait a minute. Something did happen."  
"What?"

"That spin that we took while we were in the time vortex. That has never happen to me." remembers Jenny.

"So that was unusual."

"Yes, it was. Chuck, I am a brilliant pilot. I always walk away from a landing. I tell you all of this for one reason; that spin does not happen in the time vortex unless you are a really bad pilot."

"OK."

Jenny places her focus back on the console.

"What I need to do is simply pull up the information from our time travel and analyze the data. I do need you to do something for me."

"Sure."

"At the back of the ship, there is a pile of souvenirs. I need you to go through that pile and find me a black book." commands Jenny.

"Black book?"

"Yeah. It would look old and dusty."

"Ok." Chuck stands up and walks to the back of the ship to find the little black book. When he saw the big pile of stuff, Chuck could not help but think of Morgan's room. Chuck roll up his sleeve and pile through the items.

Jenny is focus on compiling the data. She starts pushing buttons and looking at the computer screen that is located on her ship console. Her smile is gone. Her focus is strictly the unknown problem. She looks at the data that pull up.

"Found it." yell out Chuck. Jenny turns to see Chuck walking back to her holding the book.

Chuck hands the book to Jenny, who takes it from his hand. She starts looking through the pages. Chuck notices the cover of the book. While he is expecting to see something in a language that he is not familiar, he still found it odd. There is intersecting circle on the cover of the book. He looks over Jenny's shoulder to take a peek of the content of the books. What he saw is symbols that he is not familiar. Too many symbols that he could not understand.

When he felt it, Chuck took a step away from Jenny. This is something he did not expects.

He closes his eyes and let the flash happen.

The flash shows the symbols of the black book. What happen next, Chuck did not expect to happen, the flash turns black. Chuck open his confused eyes up. That was something new to Chuck. It felt like the Intersect crash on him.

Chuck takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He let a flash happen. He picks a hand to hand combat maneuver. After doing some moves, Chuck takes a deep sigh of relief. Whatever happened, Chuck never experience before. If he did not know any better, Chuck could have sworn that the Intersect purposely black out the flash.

He looks at Jenny. She did not notice Chuck as she is engross in the book. Chuck let out a sigh of relief as he purposely averts his eyes from the book.

"So, what is that?" ask Chuck.

"You mean the book?"

"Yeah."

"It was given to me by an old shaman on the planet called Iseuys'sedbeckiszae." answers Jenny as she turns a page of the black book

"That's a mouth full."

"Try speaking it. It felt like I had marbles in my mouth while I was there." said Jenny

"So, a shaman gave that to you." Said Chuck as he help Jenny try to continue her story.

"He said that it fell from the sky. It was like someone had dropped it. They only kept it because of the condition of the book."

"Collectors?"

"No. When I mean by the condition of the book, I meant the energy that seems to come off of it. According to the shaman, they felt a great power coming from the book. According to their legends, many of their kings rose up to power after touching the book. The bad part is the fact that they had both type of kings, good and bad. So the shamans kept the book secure." explains Jenny.

"Why do you have it?" ask Chuck.  
"I can read it." said Jenny.  
"Oh.

"Did I not mention that they held onto this book for a couple of millenniums?" ask Jenny as she turn a page.

"Nope."

"During that whole time that they had it, they were not able to translate the words in this book. Imagine everyone's surprise when I arrived and was able to read it. I ended up using the book to save the whole planet."

"That's good. What is it?" ask Chuck.

"Short version: Dummy version of Time travel." said Jenny with a small smile. Chuck took a quick glance at the book cover.

"Is that how you mastered time travel?"

"Yes, it is, Chuck." said Jenny as she continues to read the book. "Oh no."  
"What?"

"According to the data and the book, we got it hit by a temporal wave."

"That sounds very bad."  
"You have no idea." said Jenny as she stands up from the console. She places the book on the console, making sure that the book is close.

"Talk to me, Jenny. What happened?"

"I do not know. All I can tell you that if we were not in the time vortex when this wave hit, we would not have known the difference."

"Difference about what?"

"History changing. Time lines being rewritten."

"That's bad." said Chuck.

"Chuck. Something changed the whole time stream. Everything has changed. Something that should have happened never happened and it changed what we know." explains Jenny as she looks at the stars outside her ship.

"That is an alternate universe out there, isn't it." Chuck look at the stars.  
"Yes, it is. But there is a problem."

"Of course, there is."

"Everything is wrong and the universe knows it. The universe will try to correct the mistake. There is a very strong possibility that the universe could reignite the big bang in order to correct itself." explains Jenny.

"That's good, right?"

"Not for us. We aren't supposed to be here. We are an…..anomaly." Chuck notices Jenny's hesitation over using the word. "There is a very good chance that we cease to exist if the bang does happened."

"Oh, that's bad." Chuck places his focus back onto Jenny, who sit down. The stars can wait. The explanation cannot.

"For us, it is. Not to mention, there is a strong possibility that everything that we know could change. Your parents may never exist. My father could be my mother. The world could be purple. Everything would change except one thing: We will never have existed." explains Jenny

"What happens if the bang does not happened?" ask Chuck, knowing full well that he will not like the answer.  
"One of two things. We figure out what has happened and correct it. Time and the universe will be the same again."

"Good."

"Or the universe will die."

"Bad." points out Chuck.

"Yes, Chuck. Very bad. When that happens, a lot of other universe will die with it."  
"You mean parallel universes."

"Exactly."

"OK, I am confused. What is the difference between this one and parallel universe?" asks Chuck.

"Key events will always be the same in the other universes. Pompli will still be destroyed by a volcano. The moon landing will still occur. World War II will still happened. When the car is invented can change. How the car looks can be different. Do you still get the Intersect is a question that can be answer in different ways. Who walks on the moon can change. Do you understand?" ask Jenny as she places her focus back at the black book. She picks it up and opens up the book.

"I always thought that anything can change." said Chuck.  
"They can, but bad things happened if they do. At least that is what the book says." reply Jenny.

"How long do we have before something has to happen?" ask Chuck.

"We have forty-eight hours." answers Jenny

"Great, now we have to figure out what has happened to change a whole universe and time or we cease to exist."

"You forgot about the Dalek fleet that is out there. We do have to avoid them while we are doing all of this." adds Jenny.

Chuck turn to look at the screen.

"Jenny."

"Yes, Chuck."

"I think that we have that problem now."  
Jenny takes her eyes off of the book and look at the screen. She put the book down on the console.

"Well, that could be a problem." said Jenny.

The screen shows the fleet in front of them.

"How did they find us?" ask Chuck.

"We are stealth to their radars. I must have forgotten to put up the cloaking device."

"Isn't that an automatic thing?"

"No. My ship does not generate enough energy to do both." said Jenny.

"So they can see us."

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Chuck."

"Yeah."

"Put on the seat belt?" commands Jenny.

Chuck put his seat belt on.  
"Ship. Display a 360 degree view of our surroundings." A 3-d hologram display in front of Jenny. Chuck look to see that the fleet has surrounded them.

"Oh boy." said Chuck when a beep goes off.

"It looks like the Daleks wants to establish contact with us." Comment Jenny.

"You are awful calm about this."

"Now is not the time to panic, Chuck." said Jenny. Chuck could see a small smile is slowly forming on her face. "Let us see what they want to say."

Jenny pushes a button to the Intercom.

"Hello." said Jenny.

"EXTERMINATE!"

"No, thanks." reply Jenny as she turns off the intercom. She presses another button. "Silly Daleks. Surround us for all sides but one."  
Chuck look at the 360 degree view when he realizes what Jenny meant. The fleet did not cover their bottom half. Chuck grabs the arm rest of his chair.

The smile on Jenny grows on her face.

"It looks like that we are running, Chuck." said Jenny as she presses the last button.

This ship drops like a brick through the opening that the Daleks left Jenny. The fleet starts to follow Jenny. With a head start, Jenny's ship proves to be faster than the fleet.

"SHIP! PREPARE PROBES!" yells out Jenny as she looks at her radar. The fleet was maintaining its speed.

"Probe prepared to launch." answer the ship's computer.

"Set coordinates to Earth." command Jenny.

"Disparate formation?" asks the computer.  
"Yes."

"Probes ready." reply the computer.

"FIRE!" commanded Jenny.

The ship fires several spheres to the blue planet.

"OK, I'll bite. Why are you firing the probe to earth?" ask Chuck.

"Because I am firing into an unknown planet, Chuck. Because I have no idea what is going on in that planet. Because everything has changed and I do not know anything at this moment. I would like to know what is going on the planet at this moment when I am being followed…" said Jenny.

Without warning, a streak of light passes by the ship.

"Correction. Being fired upon by the Dalek fleet." corrects Jenny.

"Don't you have any weapons on the ship?" ask Chuck.

"No. Why would I?"  
"Seriously."

"Chuck. I have a sonic device that I have not had the chance to repair still on my ship. I have force field that can withstand the collapse of a dying sun and a black hole combined. I can travel through time in my ship. I ask you, why would I want to have weapons on this ship?" ask Jenny.  
"Because we are being fired at….Wait. Did you say a force field?"

"Yes, I did."  
As to answer Chuck's question, they fled a shove to the ship.

"Shields holding." said the ship's computer. Jenny turns to her companion and flashes a smile.

As if to prove a point, several blasts could be heard from behind the ship.

"Do you hear what I hear, Chuck?"  
"A lot of people trying to kill us?"

"Yeah. Isn't exciting?" said Jenny with a smile. He places his focus back on the screening, wondering if he is with someone who has gone mad or not. "Plot course to Earth."

"I have not received information from the probe." Reply the ship's computer.

"We have a fleet of angry little tank robots surrounding the planet. They are not famous for looking after a planet of very little importance. Plot the course, now!" explain Jenny.

"Wait a minute. Are you saying that the Dalek are actually protecting something?" ask Chuck.

"Remember what I told you about the Daleks."  
"Killer tanks bent on the destruction of the universe. I vaguely remember that." answers Chuck.  
"So, why is Earth still around?" ask Jenny.

"Crap. They should have destroyed it by now, shouldn't they?"

"Exactly. My only encounter with a Dalek, that thing had only one purpose in mind. It was not about conquering. If I had to guess, we may find most of our answers back on Earth." said Jenny. "SHIP, PLOT THE COURSE NOW!"

"Plotting as we speak." Answer the computer.

"So, why don't we jump back to the time vortex?" ask Chuck as he notice that the ship is going faster.

"Time converter is out of energy. It wouldn't recharge for another seventy two hours."

"There goes that idea." said Chuck.

"If you are talking about going back into time before the universe changed into this new reality, yes, that plan is no longer feasible. We need to focus on the here and now, Chuck."

"OK."

Both pilot and passenger look at the screen. The blue planet just got bigger.

"That is a beautiful view. Jenny."

"Yes, Chuck."

"I hate to say this but…"

"But what?" ask Jenny.

The silence is Jenny's only response. She turns to see Chuck has fainted. She could not help but smile.

"Silly Chuck."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Chuck opens his eyes to see the spaceship passing through of a cloud. The view takes Chuck's breath away. He did not move in fear that this is all a dream. His mind catches up with him. Chuck figures that while he was out, Jenny piloted the ship into Earth's atmosphere. Chuck still could not help but smile. This was something that he did not think he would see without falling out of an airplane.

After a minute, Chuck takes a breath.

"Whoa! Now that is a sight." said Chuck.  
"Good. You are up." said Jenny. She already knew that he was awake. Jenny just simply had her hand full at the moment flying her spaceship.

"How long was I out?" asks Chuck.

"A minute." reply Jenny as she looks at her ship's radar, which told her everything that she needed to know that is happening behind her ship.  
"Oh, that is not too long." This fact surprised Chuck. The fainting always seems to last a long time.

"Just remember to breath. I cannot have you do that again." said Jenny.  
"Sorry." apologizes Chuck.

"I do have a question." states Jenny.

"Sure."

"Can you still flash?" asks Jenny.

"What?"

"I saw you earlier and you had a thing happened to you." explains Jenny.

"Oh. It happened when I tried to read the book that you were reading, but I'm fine." said Chuck with a little embarrassment.

"Are you sure?" ask Jenny.

"Yeah."

"Good. I need you to pilot the ship." said Jenny as she stands up from her pilot seat.

"What?" said Chuck as he looks at the Female Time Lord. "Don't you have autopilot?"

"No. Why would I?" ask Jenny, wondering where this question came from.  
"Oh, for situation like this." answers Chuck.

"Auto pilot cannot make evasive maneuvers. Auto pilot cannot make quick decision. In these types of situations, auto pilot is no good. Beside, why do I need auto pilot when I have you?" said Jenny with a smile.

Chuck looks at the console. It did not look too different from a helicopter. Still, he never flew anything like this. Actually, he could not think of a person that would have flown this spaceship.

"I always said that I wanted to fly the Millennium Falcon." said Chuck. Chuck takes a deep breath and access the Intersect.

What flashes was every sort of flying devices that is known to man.

Chuck opens his eyes and look at the spaceship console. He looks at where every lever and switch is located at. He looks at the instruments on the console. He could actually figure out what some of them mean. The others items on the console he did not bother trying to figure out since it is in a different language.

"I think I can do this. But why am I flying the ship?" said Chuck as he takes the steering wheel of the space ship. Jenny let go of the steering wheel.

"While you were out, the Dalek's fleet stopped just outside of the atmosphere of Earth. However, they did let a ship follow us. I am going to get rid of it." said Jenny as she gets up from her chair and start walking to the back of the ship.

"Oh boy." said Chuck as he slowly gets up from his chair and move onto pilot chair.

"You are doing just fine." yells back Jenny from the back of the ship to reassure Chuck.

There is an area of the ship where Jenny had the important items in four drawers. While she had souvenirs all over the ship, Jenny did keep the important items secure. She opens a drawer and pulls out a pair of gloves. She put the gloves on, closes the drawer and opens up the next drawer. She pulls out an ear piece. She closes it. Jenny presses a tiny button on the earpiece. A small light lit up. She places it in her ear. She closes the drawer and opens up another drawer. She pulls out a belt. She wraps the belt out her wrist. Jenny checks on her boots and smile. She is still wearing the magnetic boots.

"What are you doing?" asks Chuck.

"Like I said, I am going to stop that ship that is following us."

"OK. How? We don't have any weapons." ask Chuck.

"Oh, Chuck. Do you really think that I did not have a plan?" answers Jenny with a grin on her face.

"Actually, I am pretty sure that you are making this up as you go along."

"Ye of little faith. But very true." reply Jenny. Jenny walks to the center of the ship. "SHIP, TELEPORT ME UP ON THE ROOF OF THE SHIP!"

"Preparing teleportation." states the ship's computer.

"NOW!" command Jenny.  
Jenny disappears from the interior of her ship and onto the roof of her ship. Jenny could feel the wind blowing through her hair. Her skin reacts to the change in temperature. Jenny finally observes the Earth's sky. The chill that the view gives Jenny was ominous. The sky is a dark red. It is another remainder that the universe is not right.

She places her focus back on the present. Jenny looks behind her. Jenny sees the Dalek's ship following her and her ship.

Jenny places her hand by her ear.  
"CHUCK, CAN YOU HEAR ME?" yell out Jenny.  
"Barely." answers Chuck.  
"SLOW DOWN!"

"What?"  
"You heard me!"  
"Wish I didn't." answers Chuck.  
"JUST DO IT! I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING!"

"Oh my god. I am going to die." said Chuck in Jenny's ear. Jenny removes her hand away from her ear as she could feel the ship slowing down. She looks behind her and smile. The Dalek's ship is finally catching up with her ship.

"You see the opportunity. Now take it." said Jenny at the ship.

The Dalek's ship speeds up enough that it is now flying beside Jenny's ship. Jenny knows that she should not be smiling. The Dalek's ship has 1000 Daleks with the sole purpose of exterminating all things living, which includes Jenny and Chuck. She should be terrified for her life.

The side of the ship reveals a door on it. Jenny stares at the door, knowing what is going to happen next.

The door opens to reveal a lone Dalek. It is complete chrome and black. Jenny places her hand on her belt buckle. She presses a small button on the front of the belt buckle.

"EXTERMINATE." The Dalek fires at her. The death beam hit her force field, nullifying the beam.

"EXTERMINATE!" The Dalek fires again at her. The result is still the same as the force field made the beam useless.

"You are going have to do this the hard way." said Jenny at the Dalek. The Dalek starts to fly away from the confines of the ship and onto Jenny's ship. Jenny could not help but smile bigger.

"EXTERMINATE!" Jenny could hear the annoyance in the voice. It is subtle for a machine with no emotion other then bloodlust. The Dalek fires again at Jenny. The result is still the same.

"EXTERMINATE!" Jenny starts to walk toward the Dalek as it fires at her. The result is still the same.

"EXTERMINATE!"

"Will you please stop that? I know that you are intelligent enough to realize that the result will still be the same." said Jenny to the Dalek.

"How are you doing that?" ask the Dalek.

"You mean the force field that is adjusting to the changes in your death ray?" said Jenny.

"No force field can withstand our technology." states the Dalek as if what Jenny is doing is impossible.

"Where did you think I got it from?"

"What?" ask the confused Dalek.

"Where did you think I got the force field?" asks Jenny. She waits for a moment for the murderous Dalek to fully comprehend the question. "It is Dalek's technology."  
"IMPOSSIBLE!" yell out the Dalek.  
"I got it from the Ultimate Dalek." states Jenny as she is only a few feet away from the Dalek.

"There is no such Dalek."

"Not now. The Ultimate Dalek is in the Dalek's future." explains Jenny.

"There will be no such Dalek."  
"Of course there is. Even you know about the Ultimate Dalek. I am pretty sure that it is in your prophecy."  
"WE HAVE NO SUCH THING!" yells out the Dalek. Jenny stops right in front of the Dalek. She could feel the barrel of the Death Ray on her chest. She looks right into the eye of the Dalek.  
"I am paraphrasing this: The Ultimate Dalek will rise and set the universe on fire. It will bring victory from defeat. Even the Oncoming Storm will not quench its flames. Does that sound about right to you?" ask Jenny.  
Silence is the only response that Jenny received.

"I thought so. I figured that you would be familiar with the prophecy. The Ultimate Dalek will exist. It will be the pinnacle of the Dalek race. It will try to set the universe on fire. It would have succeeded to destroy the universe and the Oncoming Storm. The problem was the fact that it never encountered the Oncoming Storm. It never was able to set the universe on fire. It encountered something that stopped it. It encountered me."

The lone Dalek starts to back away from Jenny.

"When I defeated the Ultimate Dalek, take a guess what I received from that encounter."

Dalek continue to back away from Jenny as she takes a step closer the Dalek.

"I received all the knowledge of the Dalek's empire. I know what makes you tick and what makes you work."

Dalek stop cold when it heard that statement.

"For example, I can make you go blind with a snap of my fingers." said Jenny as she lifts up her left hand. The Dalek quickly fly off of Jenny's ship and fly back to its ship. The door slowly closes on its ship.

"Sorry." said Jenny as she snaps her fingers.

She could hear yelling from the Dalek's ship. She knows that when she snapped her fingers, it send out a wave that affected every Daleks within fifty miles. The wave made the Daleks blind.

Jenny sees the Dalek's ship slowly down. Jenny places her hand over her earpiece.

"CHUCK! GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!" yell Jenny.

Jenny's ship speeds pass the Dalek's ship. Jenny keeps an eye on it. She could tell that it has slowed down immensely from before.

Jenny smile and let out a sigh of relief as the Dalek's ship grew smaller from the distance.

* * *

"Can I officially say that was the coolest thing I have done?" said Chuck with the biggest grin on his face.

"What would that be?" asks Jenny.

"I flew a spaceship. I flew an actually spaceship. And I didn't crash it." With some instruction from Jenny, Chuck flew the spaceship and landed in a canyon.  
"I had faith in you." said Jenny.

"And we got away from them. How did you do that?"

"The gloves that I wore send out an energy burst. This energy burst is harmless to most living organisms. The energy burst however, affects the Dalek race. In simplest terms, the energy burst blinds the Daleks. It is very effective against a small number of them. However, a large fleet will still overwhelm you. That is what happens while you flew my spaceship. I blinded them. Whether they crash is all up to them." explains Jenny.

"You are one scary individual."

"Not scary. Just prepared."

"So now what?"

"Well, we save the world." answers Jenny.

"How? Wait? I know the answer to that question." said Chuck.

"Now you have my curiosity, how do we do that?"

"Like you said earlier: find out what is wrong with this picture. That is why you fired those probes earlier."

"I thought you were not paying attention. I could not tell over the screaming in terror." teases Jenny.

"Well, I'm used to being in that position of terror." said Chuck. "Do we have the information from the probes?

"I just got the data. It is going to takes an hour or two for me to accumulate the information and process it." said Jenny. "Take a nap, Chuck. You had an exciting day."

"How can I now? I'm wired." said Chuck as he got up from his chair. He walks over to the back of the space ship. "I just flew a space ship. For a few minutes, I was Wash. I was the leaf in the wind."

Chuck saw an odd object. It looks like an arrowhead. He picks the arrowhead up from the non pointy edge.  
"Chuck…" Jenny could not finish her sentence. Chuck collapsed on the floor unconscious.

Jenny walks up to the lying body and look at it. Jenny takes a deep breath.

"That arrowhead is laced with a knockout solution. One touch and you are out like a light." explains Jenny to the unconscious Chuck. "I really need to start labeling things."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Chuck opens his eyes with a gun pointed at his head.

His eyes widen at the sight. His eyes follow the barrel of the gun and to the man holding the gun. He is sitting beside Chuck with the gun casually in his hands. He is an older man with scars on his face and a square jaw. The old man had the rough Clint Eastwood thing unshaven look. Chuck could see the grays on the man's hair, which is short. It also looks like the old man had been in battles. The way that the man is holding the gun even though it is casual, Chuck figures that the man also know how to use it.

"Wakey. Wakey." said the old man with a predatory smile on his face. The voice is deep enough that it screams authority.

"Whoa!" pretends Chuck. He should be frightened. Actually, he is. However, this is the not first time that this has happened to Chuck. Being an asset and now an agent came with certain expectation. Getting waken up with a gun in one's face was one of them. Chuck is pretty sure that this will not be his last time.  
"Don't make any sudden moves. If you do, I will have to do something that you will regret. OK?" ask the old man.  
"OK." said Chuck. Chuck's first instinct is to disarm the old man. Even though, he is lying down on a bed, Chuck could think of several different ways in disarming the man. However, that is not the Bartowski's way. Questions are now forming in his mind that he needed answers.

"Good." The man stands up from the chair and moves backwards a few steps with the gun still pointing at Chuck. "Here is what's going to happen. We are going to step out of this spaceship. You will get handcuffed and we are going back to base. You make any hostile movement. Bang. You get smart. Bang. You try to call any of your friends…."

"Let me guess: Bang?" answers Chuck.

"Exactly. Now, keep quiet and slowly get up." commands the old man.

Chuck slowly gets up. The man takes a few more steps back and looks up. Chuck takes a look back. There is a bed off on the corner of the space ship. Chuck look at it strangely when it dawns on him that he was just laying on it. He looks around at the ship. Everything is where he remembers it. Yet, Chuck is pretty sure he did not see a bed in the spaceship before. The oddity is replaced with a question that should have been the first thing on Chuck's mind: Where is Jenny? Chuck places his attention back at the old man. Chuck looks up and sees that the hatch of the ship is open.

Third question: Where did the hatch comes from?

"Someone points a gun at our prisoner." yell the old man out of the hatch. Another question has been answers. The old man did not come alone.

A hand holding a gun comes down and points at Chuck. Even without the Intersect, Chuck could see several ways in getting out of this situation.

"Lift me up." yells out the man. A different pair of hands pops up. The old man looks at Chuck. "That gun belongs to Hawkeyes. She can shoot with 100% accuracy. Just because she doesn't see you does not mean that she will not shoot you where you stand."  
"Not moving." said Chuck to reassures the old man. The old man walk underneath the pair of hands and grab them.

Chuck looks at the old man as he is being lifted up. Since he did not know what is going on, Chuck had only one option. He had to go along with this situation.

Once the old man is lifted, Chuck walks to the area below the hatch and looks up.

The old man is pointing the gun back at Chuck. There is a woman who is reaching for Chuck. He could see that this woman had muscles bigger than Chuck's head. There are tattoos around her arms. Her skin color is tan and her hair is a weird green.

Chuck lifts his hands up and the muscular woman grabs Chuck's hands. Even though he was not going to struggle, Chuck could feel her grip is too strong for him to handle.

Chuck is lifted up on top of the ship. Chuck had to squints his eyes a bit. The sun is still bright. As his eyes adjusts to the new lighting, Chuck looks around to see that the number of guns simply increased. There are three more individuals pointing a gun at him. One man is wearing a red bandana around his head and sunglasses. One woman is wearing a tattered shirt and wearing glasses. Of course, there is the muscular woman, who now looks more intimidating outside of the space ship. Like a smart man, Chuck lifts his hand in surrender.

"Smart guy. I did not even have to tell him the situation." said the older man.

"There's guns pointed at me. There is really no choice here." comments Chuck as he looks at each gun that is pointed at him.

"There is always a choice." counters the old man.

"Not if I want to see tomorrow." said Chuck.

"Again. Smart man. The question is why is such a smart man or should I say alien comes crashing near a rebellion base?" ask the old man. Chuck looks at him.

"I don't know." answers Chuck when it hit him. "Wait. Rebellion camp?"  
"Yeah. But to be fair, it is hidden."

"Didn't know about it." said Chuck.

"Too bad for you. Now you are our prisoner." said the old man with a smile.

"Great." said Chuck. Being a prisoner is nothing new for Chuck. With enough practice, Chuck is slowly getting in the habit of getting information out of this position. Now he knows what is going to happen next.

Without saying a word, four of the people leap off the ship, leaving the old man and Chuck on top of the ship.

"What?" Chuck looks on how high they were. The ship is not big, but it was not short enough to leap off of and land on the ground safely. It put a new wrinkle into his situation. "Oh my god! How did you do that?"

"They are enhanced." said the old man as he looks at Chuck with some confusion.  
"Oh." Another thing that Chuck did not know. Being a sci-fi fan, Chuck knew what that meant.

"For an alien, you are pretty stupid." comment the old man.

"Hey, I'm not an alien." said Chuck.

"You're inside an alien spaceship. I am pretty sure that makes you an alien. Now, jump." said the old man as he points his gun to the ground.

"I can't do that. I probably fall to my death. At the least, I would break my legs." said Chuck as he looks down. The old man looks at Chuck for a minute.

"You're not lying." said the old man.

"No, I'm not."

"Crap. Of all the aliens in the universe, I get the weak ass one." said the old man as he shakes his head in disgust.

"Hey!"

"Hawkeyes!" yells out the old man. "Get back up here. The alien is weak."

Chuck shakes his head in frustration.

"Are you the only one in the ship?" ask the old man. Chuck put his poker face on. The question told him what he needed to know. They did not have Jenny. They did not even know about Jenny.

Whatever happened while Chuck was asleep, somehow Jenny left the ship for a reason. This band of merry man found the ship and found a way to open it, thus capturing a hostage and a spaceship.

"Yes, I am." said Chuck. With any luck, Jenny will find out what happened and will find him. The big muscular woman lands on the top of the ship. Leaping from the ground and onto the roof of the ship told Chuck all he really needed to know about his captors. The woman wraps her arms around Chuck like a bear hug.

"You do anything to her and she will squeeze the life out of you." mentions the old man to Chuck.

"Good to know."

The woman leaps off the ship with Chuck. The old man leaps off after ward. They both land on the ground. The woman lets go of Chuck. Chuck fakes a cough. Chuck looks around to see that his situation is still the same: Surrounded by people with guns. It would be best that they continue to think that Chuck is a "weak ass alien." Like before he let his hand up in the air in surrender.

"Alright, people. We are going to take the prisoner back to base, but we are leaving the ship here. We got about a small window of time to get back to camp. Contact Dozer about the ship. Tell him to get preparation ready to transport and secure this vessel." said the old man.

"Sir, this is an alien ship. Is it wise to take the ship back to camp? It could be a Trojan Horse." mentions the guy with the sunglasses as he takes another look at the spaceship.

"Could be, but I doubt that." said the old man as he looks at Jenny's ship. "The ship looks like it has been put together by spit and duct tape. I have seen better ships. We can strip it down for parts. If we stay here and argue about it, I am pretty sure that the Cybermen will find us first before we make up our minds on the ship. The ship is ours."

"Yes, sir." said the man with the sunglasses as he walk off to the side to contact Dozer.

"Now start walking alien." said the old man to Chuck.

"I'm not an alien." said Chuck as he turns around and start to walk.

As Chuck walks while being surrounded by people with guns, he reviews what he did know about his situation.

1. The people are enhanced. It could be with aliens DNA or some sort of cybernetics since they were able to leap higher then an NBA player. It unfortunately means that a fight was not a smart thing to do. Fists and brawl was not going to help him in this situation. He had to rely on his brains on this situation.

2. Jenny is not here or known. The people think that he is by himself.

3. Rebels. That word tells him a lot. The question is whether he is on the right side to be on. Another question is how many rebels are there. It reinforce the notion on rely on his brain.

4. Rebel base is hidden. With Daleks, Chuck figured that they had superior technology. It meant that the base is well hidden and undetectable.

Still Chuck wonders what he actually going on as he walks.

* * *

The five rebels and Chuck arrive at a cave.

The walk was not too long. What Chuck could figure is that they were in the Southwest area of the United States. Where he still was is still something that he is trying to figure out. There were cactus and aloe planets. The dirt on the ground bears a few grains of sand. The rocks vary in sizes and types.

When they start walking on a path leading down to a canyon confirm his guess. Chuck kept looking around. His comfort level was at an all time low. The canyon had only one place to walk in and walk out. There are no other exits or entrance that he can see. Whoever the rebellion is against ever finds out their location, the rebellion is done. This location is a death trap. Whatever they were using in hiding this base had better be good.

Chuck looks at the opening of the cave. It is big enough to put a jet fight plane in. He looks around the area of the canyon.

Chuck felt the barrel of a gun on his back which interrupts his train of thought.

"Keep walking alien." said one of the rebels.

Chuck shakes his head and walks into cave.

After going down the cave for a half hour, they finally arrive at a big metal door.

"Big door." remarks Chuck.

The old man knocks on the door. A human sized door opens up within the big door.

"Did you find anything?" said a voice.

"Yep." answers the old man.

"Cool." answers the voice.

"Need a security team ASAP. We got a prisoner." said the old man.

"Even cooler. Give me a half of a minute."

"Sure." said the old man. The door closes leaving the five rebels and Chuck outside.

"You're a security risk, alien boy." comments the old man to Chuck.

Chuck nod in acknowledgment. He did not bother correcting the old man.

After two minutes, a knock from the metal door is heard. The old man moves away from the door and walks behind Chuck. Chuck notices that everyone else did the same thing. Chuck did not need to have eyes on the back of his head to know that they are still pointing their guns at him.

"Alright, alien boy. Walk though the doors." command the old man.

"Geez, thanks." said Chuck as he start walking up to the door within the door. He opens up the door and is greeted by fifty men pointing guns at him.

"Hi." said Chuck to no one in particular. He feels a gun barrel on his back.

"Keep moving, alien boy." said the old man.

Chuck slowly walks into the building. All of his escape plans did not mean anything with these numbers. The group of guys makes room for Chuck.

Chuck then hears the metal door close behind him.

Chuck look around at the area. It is as big as an airplane hanger. Chuck estimates that this area could hold about five commercial airliners with plenty of room to move around and still store items in. He sees various land vehicles. He sees weapons and ammunitions in the area. He sees that the floor on this area is not rocky but paved over.

"Alright men. Confirmation has been made. We got ourselves an alien. Dozer is at this moment, getting the alien ship." said the old man. "Someone get the doctor. I want confirmation on what kind of shape shifter alien that we have captured."

"I'm right here." said a muffled robotic voice. The men made a way for a person in a hazmat suit. The visor is dark, so no one can see who is inside of the suit.

"Took you long enough, doc." said the old man.

"Still running test on the prototype when I got word that you left to see what came down from the sky." said the doctor.

"Is it working?" asks the old man.  
"On humans, I think. I don't know about aliens." The doctor approaches Chuck. "Does this one speak any English?"  
"Yeah. He keeps saying that he is not an alien." remarks the old man.

"Hi, I'm Chuck." said Chuck to the doctor with a sarcastic smile.

"Hello, Chuck." said the doctor. The doctor reaches inside a pocket on the suit and takes out a syringe.

"Whoa." Chuck jump back when he saw the needle. "That is a big needle."

"Oh my god! Our alien is afraid of needles." said the old man with a chuckle. Chuck look around to see that everyone is laughing at him. Chuck slowly step up to the doctor and extends his arm. Chuck closes his eyes.

"Thank you." said the doctor as the doctor inserts the needle in Chuck's arm.

"What are you doing?" ask Chuck.

"Simple. I am taking a sample of your blood to see what species you are." said the doctor as the doctor extracts some blood from Chuck.

"Will it prove that I am not an alien?" ask Chuck.

"Of course."

"Good."

"All done." said the doctor as she pulls the syringe out. Chuck open up his eyes. The doctor looks at Chuck. For a moment the doctor looks like he is staring at Chuck. After a moment, the doctor walks away from Chuck.

"Now that we had our laugh, someone gets this alien to the holding cell." yells out the old man.

Ten men surround Chuck. With no way out and no idea where he is at, Chuck simply accepts the situation until it changes.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The lab is clutter and messy. That is the only thought that is running in the head of the old man as he walks into the lab.

The old man's actual name is Rupert. Most of the rebels called him Bobby. Where that nickname came from, Rupert does not know. Being the leader of this cluster of rebels against the dictator had taken most of his time. He has been part of the rebellion since he was twenty five. He has been the leader of this continent's rebellion for the past twenty years. Finding out why they called him a different name is not the top on his list.

He walks in the lab with caution and his gun by his side. Experience and paranoia has been his friends for so long that he wouldn't know how to live if this rebellion were to end.

Beside, the lab is too creepy.

It is the type of lab that he associates with a mad scientist. Rupert/Bobby read Frankenstein when he was little. It sent a chill up his spine. While kids in his age were afraid of Dracula or zombies, something about a human being able to bring a person alive constructed by dead body parts just simply creeps him out.

Rupert scans the room and sees the reason why he did not like the lab. The doctor is walking around in the hazmat suit.

Ever since he had known the doctor, Rupert found the doctor to be a person that no one really wanted to know. The doctor has been known to stay in the lab for weeks, living on some sort of experimental meat that the doctor made. It was that type of behavior that everyone found odd in the doctor. Now, they are in a different odd phase of the doctor. The doctor has been in the hazmat suit for the past three months, only taking it off to take a shower. Even then, Rupert has no idea if the doctor did take it off.

"Doc." said Rupert/Bobby to get the doctor's attention.

"Bobby." said the muffled voice underneath the hazmat suit. The doctor turns to see Rupert/Bobby. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see the result of the test." answers the old man.  
"If you mean your blood work..." The doctor walk over a desk filled with papers. Rupert simply stands by the entrance of the lab. He did not like how the equipment in the lab hums. He did not like how some of the liquids are in bicker are still bubbling. He could see some of the equipment flashing some bolts of electricity. Rupert places his focus back on the doctor as the doctor walks back in holding two sheets of paper.

"You came back healthy. You have plenty of years left in you as long as you avoid laser fights."  
"Not likely to happen." reply Rupert aka Bobby. "That is not what I am here for."

"You mean your prisoner." asks the doctor.

"Yeah. What species are we dealing with?" ask Rupert/Bobby as he try leaning up against the wall. The prisoner baffled the old man. The prisoner found in an alien ship that claims that he is not an alien. A weak-ass alien that cannot jump off a ship and land on the ground without hurting himself. The old man just did not understand and hope the doctor could shed some light. The doctor looks at the other paper that the doctor is holding.

"Homo sapiens." said the doctor.

"Excuse me?"

"Human." clarify the doctor.

"You're kidding." Rupert/Bobby did not bothering hiding his surprise.  
"No. He is as human as you and me." said the doctor. The doctor put the paper down on a desk filled with Petri dishes. The old man tries not to star at the dishes. He did not want to know what is in them.

"Crap. I thought for sure that he was an alien." Rupert move away from the wall and start to pace.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but he is human. Where did you find him?" ask the doctor.  
"Like I said, in an alien ship."

"Really?" This time, the doctor could not contain the surprise within.

"No kidding."  
"How do you think he got in?" ask the doctor as the doctor move a chair out. The doctor sits down on the chair. .

"I don't know." said Rupert. "And I don't like it."

"So you found a human in an alien ship. That has to be good news."

"Not necessary. Dozer and his crew just brought in the ship an hour ago. The ship looks like it is being held by spit and duct tape. After the first inspection of the ship, we all think that someone has been putting in spare parts on the ship. How the thing is flying is beyond everyone's guess. As for the prisoner, he seems more stupid than anything else. He does not to have a clue that there is a war going on." said the old man as he tries to pieces together the information that is presented to him.

"Who doesn't know about the war?" ask the doctor.

"Exactly." said Rupert. He stares at the Petri dish. The neon yellow goo seems to grab his attention. He shakes his head in frustration. "Something does not feel right. Especially right now."

"What's going on?" ask the doctor.

"Keep this between you and me. I think we are getting a visit from the Red Queen." said Rupert.  
"What?" Rupert wishes he could see the doctor's reaction to the news. He is pretty sure that it is priceless.  
"Yeah. It is all over the wave. Various commanders have claimed that the Red Queen visited their bases." explains Rupert.  
"She has never made an appearance outside of England." said the doctor.  
"I know. Even then, she is a legend like Elvis or Big Foot. No one has really seen her. Still, we get orders from the England camp and they have been solid info and instructions. We have minimum loses because of her. Still, we all figured that the Red Queen is a story that is supposes to inspire us to continue the fight against the dictator. Now we are getting sightings. If she is real, we are getting a visit."

"Rumors of a visit of the Red Queen and now we capture an alien ship with a hostage. Too many coincidences." points out the doctor.  
"Exactly. Think you can run some more tests on that blood work?" ask Rupert.

"You think that our prisoner is a Trojan horse sent by the enemy." reasons the doctor.

"Yeah. I do. I don't put anything past the enemy."  
"I will run more tests." The doctor stands up from the chair. "I may need the prisoner."  
"That is not a problem. Just give me the heads up." said the old man as he walks towards the door. "By the way, thanks."

* * *

The guard looks at the ceiling. He takes a deep breath as he ponders the question.

"Fine. If I had to choose, I would pick a chocolate cupcake with balavian crème in the center." said the guard.

"I knew it. Everyone loves a good cupcake." said Chuck as he sits on the bed.

The guard looks at the prisoner that calls himself Chuck. The man had been rambling on the most trivial stuffs that the guard does not know how he had been able to take it. The guard does not know how much he can take.

Chuck keeps his fake smile on as the guard looks at Chuck. Finally, the guard looks away from Chuck and place his attention back on the wall in front of him.

Chuck's smile went away. His situation is not getting better. The prison cell that they put him in is a small cell. It had enough room for one person and a bed. The walls are solid concrete. Based on experience, Chuck is pretty sure that he needed explosives to get out of the cell. As for the cell door, it is the classic metal door that makes a lot of noise when opened. The thickness of the door tells Chuck that kicking it down would only break his foot or hand, which he is pretty attached to.

As for the location of the prison cell, the guards had to take an elevator that went down to lower levels, specifically the 10 sub level floors. His cell is down a dim lighted hallway filled with empty prison cells. His cell is the last one.

As for the guard putted in front of Chuck's cell, he is the combination of Mike Tyson and John Casey. The guard is not someone Chuck wanted to have to fight.

To recap, he is in the underground rebel base that has another ten sub levels. He is in a jail cell at the end of a very long hallway being guarded by a man that may be able to snap Chuck in half. Yep, Chuck has some figuring to do if he wanted to get out of here.

Chuck lie down on the bed and stare at the ceiling trying to figure out what to do next.

The guard could hear foot steps coming toward him. He turns to the sound of the footstep. It is a woman in military garb and a blonde ponytail. Her face is stern. While she is pretty, she walks with pure purpose.

The guard stands up from his chair. He grabs his weapon. While the woman is shorter than he was, the guard has seen aliens shorter and deadlier. It did not help that he has never seen this woman.

"Put your weapon back down, soldier." command the woman as she approach the guard.

"Ma'am." said the guard as he slowly raises his weapon.  
"Do I look like your mom? You will address me as sir." said the woman. The tone screams respect and authority. Still, he did not put down his weapon.

"Sir. You should not be down here." states the guard.

"Do you know who I am soldier?" ask the woman as she stand in front of the guard. She is definitely shorter than the guard, yet the guard could not help but be slightly intimidated by her. She did not show any fear in her eyes.

"No, sir."

"I am the security commander for the Red Queen." said the woman. The guard put his gun down.

"Red Queen?" The soldier tries to hide his tremble when he said the words: Red Queen.

"That is right, soldier. The Red Queen exists and she is coming here for a surprise visit." said the blonde solider. The guard swallows his saliva in his mouth. "Before that can happen, I need to make sure that your base is secure for her."  
"I have not heard anything about any visit." said the guard.

"It would not be called a surprise if everyone knew about it." The guard could hear the annoyance in the woman's voice. "Beside, do you want the enemy to know about it? Why don't we put up a firework display announcing her visit? I am pretty sure that the Daleks would love to know that she is here. Should I call the Cybermen, the Sotarans, and the Slitheen to see if they would like to attend? Would you like that, soldier?"

"No ma'am…. I mean, sir." answers the guards. The woman is unnerving the guard, which he did not want to admit. The woman looks at the locked guard. She look at the cell's door and approaches the door. She looks inside to see Chuck lying on his bed. She looks away from Chuck and back at the guard.

"Who do we have in here?" ask the woman.  
"A prisoner that we found in the desert. He was in the spaceship that we just brought in." answers the guard.  
"A prisoner?" said the woman. Her frustration is shown all over her face. The guard could not help but gulp in fright. "Have you interrogated the prisoner?"

"No, sir. We wanted to be sure that we know what type of species that we are dealing with." explains the guard.  
"Seriously? The Red Queen will arrive any moment now and no one has questioned the prisoner. How do we know if there is not going to be an invasion on this base?" ask the woman.

"I don't know?" answer the guard, who already know that he just said the wrong answer. The woman closes her eyes and start counting to ten. She walks away from the door and guards. Once finishes, she opens her eyes and walk back to the guard.  
"Take a walk, soldier. I will take over your post and question the prisoner myself." said the woman.

"Sir?"

"Give me your keys and walk. You really do not want to be here for this soldier." The words that came out of her mouth send a chill up the guard's spine.

"Yes, sir."

The guard quickly gives his keys to the woman and walk away.

The woman watches as the guard disappear in the dark hallway. She turns and inserts the keys in the door and unlocks the door. She opens the door to find Chuck lying on the bed. He turns to see the woman.

"Jenny?"

"Hello, Chuck." said the female Time Lord.

"What took you so long?" asks Chuck as he sit up.

"Making jokes now." ask Jenny.  
"I would have made them sooner if I knew where you went." answers Chuck.  
"Well, I was being a good soldier."  
"What does that suppose to mean?"

"It means that I was gathering information about the situation."

"How did you do that?" ask Chuck.

"Well, the reading from the probes was not as informative as I like it to be, so I found the nearest bar and walk over there." states Jenny.

"So, you left me in the ship while you went to a bar."

"Yes." said Jenny to Chuck. Chuck shakes his head at the notion of being left alone in a spaceship while Jenny was in a bar, but disregard it now that Jenny is here.

"Did you at least get the info that you needed?"  
"I got enough information to see what we are going to have to deal with." said Jenny.

"OK. I'm curious. How bad is it?" asks Chuck.

"It is pretty bad. Not impossible, but bad."

"OK. What's the situation?"  
"Short story or long story?"  
"The important story."

"OK. The situation is this: This alternative universe is under a dictator's rule. During the sixties, a dictator from Earth went out in the universe and started to conquer planets. He fashion himself as the next Napoleon Bonaparte." explains Jenny.

"That can't be good."  
"Unfortunately, he is very good at playing the part minus the mistakes. The whole universe is under his rule. To make things more complicated, he acquired allies." continues Jenny.  
"When you mean by allies, I am hoping that you would say rabbits?"  
"Really? You said rabbits."  
"I was hoping something harmless and fluffy."  
"Well, it is not harmless and fluffy. Think evil, merciless, and deadly: Specifically, Cybermen, Daleks and other alien civilizations that do not play nice with others." answers Jenny.

"The way you explained about the Dalek, they don't strike me as the kind that would simply have allies."

"No, they do not. Which means that whoever is the dictator is very persuasive or very dangerous. It also explains why there was a fleet surrounding the planet, not destroying it."

"So, why is it that Earth has not been under his rule?" ask Chuck.  
"It is. Earth was the first planet that he conquered. Luckily people did not like the situation so, they set up a rebellion against the dictator. Because of that, there are now rebellion factions throughout the universe. As for Earth, the rebellion is led by the mysterious Red Queen. She seems to be the one running this operation."

"So, that is why you mention to the Red Queen to the guard."  
"I overheard a conversation about the Red Queen and a probable surprise visit." Jenny looks down the prison hallway.  
"It also helps that you look like a military man." said Chuck as he gets up from the bed.  
"It helps that I can think like one."  
"So what now?" ask Chuck.

"Well, we get out of here before anyone realize that something is wrong, like there is no visit from the Red Queen. We get to our ship and make a small visit to the dictator's place of residence."

"Not a good plan." points out Chuck.  
"It is a good plan. It is the details that I need to figure out."  
"You do know that the devil is in the detail." said Chuck.

"I met the devil once. Little short and grumpy." said Jenny.  
"You know what I mean."  
"You are right. But we don't have that much time. Remember we are under a clock." said Jenny

"Good point." said Chuck. He completely forgot about the potential big bang that could occur to reverse this universe back to normal or destroy it. "Let's go."

* * *

Rupert looks over his schedule. He is wearing his only pair of glasses. While he can handle laser fights and dealing with blood thirsty aliens, time is not on his side. Small print is slowly becoming his enemy. Hence his glasses. His room is the only place on the underground base that gives him what he needs: Peace and quiet.

Everyone on base always looks at him for advice and leadership. The weight of it had a tendency of wearing him down. At this moment, the only thing he wanted to do is figure out how much time he had left before they had to get supplies. The schedule allows him to see when the last time they had a shipment was and how long it last.

When the knock hits his door, Rupert felt a disappointment. He really wants to make sure that they do not starve in this cave.

"Come in." said Rupert as he put down the schedule. A soldier opens the door and walks in. "What's wrong?"

"Sir. I got some sort of weird message over the wave."

"When did you get it?" asks Rupert.  
"About a minute ago. I figured that you should see this." The soldier passes the piece of paper to Rupert. He takes it and look at it.

"This is only a series of number." remark the old man.

"Like I said, it is weird. It is not under any of our normal codes. I don't know what it is." said the soldier with only confusion in his face. At that moment, something clicks in Rupert's head.

"Crap." said Rupert. He opens up a drawer and takes out a book. He opens the book and look at a specific page. He looks at his book and then looks at the paper. "Oh god."

"Sir?" ask the solider as Rupert stand up from his bed. Rupert put his glasses in a case.

"Get everyone down to the main dock now! We got a visitor coming in about six minutes." commands Rupert.  
"Sir?"  
"The Red Queen is here. We got two minutes to secure the area." explains Rupert to the soldier. The soldier's face grows white upon hearing that name.  
"Yes, sir." said the soldier as he run off to do his duty.

* * *

Six minutes went by quick. Luckily, the soldiers of this rebellion cluster runs like a coherent unit. Correction: They are a coherent unit. Within minutes, they are standing on guards in the docking bay. There was never a doubt with Rupert about his unit. They are a trained unit.

As the cargo doors open, he could not help but feel nervous. He has never seen the Red Queen. He has not known any Rebellion leader that has seen their mysterious leader other than what he had heard on the wave. He did not put much weight in what is told on the wave unless he could verify it.

Here is what he actually does know. The Red Queen had never left her hiding place ever since the rebellion started. Rupert could not blame her. She had been feeding intel to all the leaders in the rebellion on Earth. The intel was not something lame. It is solid intel about supply convoy making its routes. It is flying patterns to avoid being capture. The Red Queen is their shining light.

Rupert has heard whispers about the various rebellions that exist out in the stars. Of course, they had only been whispers. Rupert stops looking towards the stars for any help or guidance. Whether the whispers were substantial or not, that is another question for someone smarter than he. However, today he gets to see with his own eye, the mysterious Red Queen. She is the reason why they are all here.

When he sees the ship, the ship screams alien technology. The ship is big and shiny. It looks like a cone attached with two smaller cones on its side. The exterior of the ship is a shiny metal, which Rupert figures that is what gives its stealth technology. Rupert reasons that had to be the way the Red Queen travel undetected. It is big and it is covering the whole cargo area.

The alien ship rows in. Rupert could not help but wonder if this was a trick or a ploy. Rupert did not like this ship. Whatever the reason, he had to place his faith on something. He had to have faith that the Red Queen is in the ship as he watch the ship stop.

The ship's doors open up. A long ramps slides down from the ship to the ground on a slope. He holds his breath as two guards comes walking out. The guards are wearing military garb and carrying rifles. Rupert could tell that they did not have the same problem as the rebels. It look like that they are wearing all new uniforms, something that the rebels did not have. Rupert can tell from a distance that the guns that they hold have never been fired. He wonders if they have ever been in a fight. They walk down the ramp. They stop at the end of the ramp. What came out, Rupert's faith try not to falter.

The Red Queen walks out wearing a red robe. In the center of the robe is some sort of golden design that Rupert has never seen. What surprised Rupert is the fact that the Red Queen's face is covered by a hood. He could not even see if there is a woman or man underneath the robe. He cannot even see her feet. It is big and wavy that it covers any indication of who could be underneath the robe.

The Red Queen walks down the ramp. She stops in between her guards.

"Which one of you is Rupert?" ask the Red Queen. The voice is oddly scrambled. Rupert steps forward, really hoping that it is not a trap.

"I am."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. However, time is not kind to us." said the Red Queen. She points at two men on the front row. "You. Go to that door and have your weapons on hand."

"Yes, ma'am." The two men take out their weapons and go to the door that she pointed. Rupert looks at the door. He knew where that door leads. His hearts starts to race.

"I beg your pardon, but why did you order my men there?" said the unsure rebel leader.

"Is that not the door the leads to the elevator to your prison cells?" ask the Red Queen.  
"Yes."

"In a minute, your prisoner will walk out that door with his partner." explains the Red Queen. Rupert's heart skips a beat at this statement.  
"What?"

"Your prisoner had a partner. She was hidden on that ship." She point to the ship that they brought in from the desert. Rupert look at the spit and duct tape ship.  
"That can't be. We search that ship." explains Rupert.  
"You are dealing with someone who built that ship. She built everything on that ship with her own hands. Do you really think that she would not know the ideal place to hide or construct a hiding place which you cannot find her?" explains the Red Queen.  
"Crap."

"Do not be hard on yourself. If it is who I think it is, she is smarter than you." reassure the Red Queen.

"You said her. You know who is on that ship?" ask Rupert.

"Maybe." The Red Queen turns and watches the door.

"Everyone, have your weapons ready." commands the old man.

The door slowly opens.

"It's awfully quiet." said a male voice.

"If I had to take a guess, it must be supper time, Chuck." answers the female voice.

The prisoner came walking out with his partner. Rupert sees a blonde woman with him. She is shorter than the prisoner. Both of them look around. The men posted by the door aim their guns at both of them.

"I think that you are slightly wrong about that." correct the prisoner.

"Guess I am." said the blonde woman as she raises her hand in surrender.

"Worst jail break ever." said the prisoner as he raises his hands.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Chuck is sitting on the floor in his new prison cell. It is the same exact cell that he was in except for the fact that it is a smaller cell with no bed. The metal door is thicker. There is a small opening on the door. It is high enough which he cannot turn the knob or pick the lock on the door. He shakes his head in frustration at his situation.

Jenny looks at her prison cell. It is pretty standard without a bed and a steel door blocking her way out. She looks out of her cell door to see that there are no guards for her to seduce, which she still can not believe on how many times that trick works.

Their current situation that they are in is the result of being caught. For Jenny, this is not a proud moment. She had never been caught. At least it happened in an alternative universe, the capture did not count on her record.

"Hello!" yells out the Time Lord. Chuck stand up from the floor when he heard Jenny.

"Again, worst jail break ever!" yells out Chuck. Jenny smiles at Chuck's voice.

"Where are you?" asks Jenny.

"I think I am at the other end of the hallway."

"Wave your hand." said Jenny. She could see the hallway. She tries to look at the end of the hallway. She smiles at a hand that pops out of the cell. "Well, there you are."

"So, now what?" asks Chuck.  
"We wait." answers Jenny.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Why?" asks Chuck.

"Couple reasons. They actually search me and found all of my tools to break out of a cell. More importantly, they did not shoot us." explains Jenny to Chuck.

"Only means that they will shoot at us later." said Chuck as he plays devil advocate with Jenny.

"I do not think so. I dare say that they actually may need us." answers Jenny.

"You're serious."

"We just broke out of the jail cell. They had all the rights to shoot at us as we walked out that door. They did not. It could only means that we are important to them. Since we do not know anyone here, we cannot be hold for ransom. It leaves us with one thing: They need us for something." reasons Jenny.

"Here is me hoping that it is to cook for them." said Chuck. Even now, his mind is reasoning the facts. He hates to admit it, but Jenny may be right. They really did not have anything to offer to the rebels. No intel. The rebel had the ship. They were really the worst kind of hostages. It comes back to the same question: Why did the rebels not kill them?

"Where's your sense of adventure?" asks Jenny to ease Chuck's mind from the potential dangerous situation.

"Lock up in a jail cell on an alternate universe." answers Chuck.

"Cute." said Jenny. Chuck could not help but smile.

"Thanks. I try to be."

For a few minutes, they sit in their cells in silence.

"I am thinking of a number that is in between one and one billion. What is it?" ask Jenny as she got tired of the silence.

"Two."

"NUT!" said Jenny in frustration. Chuck smile at the small victory at guessing her number. "Lucky guess."

"Alright. My turn. I am thinking of a number between one and one billion. What is it?" yell out Chuck.

"789,065,901.4" yell out Jenny.

"You have to be kidding me." said Chuck as he shakes his head.

"My turn. Go on and guess." said Jenny.

* * *

"They are playing games?" said Rupert as he looks at the monitors.

The monitoring room is small. It also has never been used during its entire existence. There was never a need. With the base being a secret, a jailbreak was never a factor. The monitoring room had no reason to be used. Of course, the jailbreak by the man that the rebels found changed that.

The room has monitors on the prisoners. It had room for two individuals sitting in their chairs and two individuals standing behind them. Rupert is with two men that he can trust watching the two prisoners play their number game. The likelihood of another jailbreak happening should be decreased now. However, his frustration simply grew when he heard the prisoners playing a game. It made him forget that the Red Queen is standing beside him.

"She knows that nothing is going to happen to her here." answer the Red Queen.

"We can fix that." said Rupert.

"No, we are not." said the Red Queen. Rupert did not hide his surprise as he turn to look at the Red Queen.  
"Why not?"

"Because she is right. We need her." states the Red Queen.

"Why?"  
"Trust me. We need her." said the Red Queen as she turns around to exit the monitoring room. "Bring the prisoner to my room."

"Which one?" asks Rupert.

"The only one that will save the universe: The woman."

Rupert is left standing there wondering what is so special about the new prisoner.

* * *

The doctor looks at every test that has been conducted on the blood. It all came to the same conclusion: The prisoner is human.

Of course, there are only so many tests to perform until it became repetitive. So, now the doctor is heating up a marshmallow with a Bunsen burner.

The doctor turns around to see the Red Queen standing at the doorway.

"OH MY GOD!" yells out the doctor. The doctor could not help but jump away from her table. She drops her marshmallow on the floor. Her startled reaction made her papers fall onto the ground.

"Sorry to startle you." apologizes the Red Queen.  
"No. My fault. I really should be more aware of my surroundings." lies the doctor. The doctor instantly genuflects to the Red Queen as a sign of respect. The Red Queen simply watches the strange doctor who is still wearing the hazmat suit.

"So, you are the medic within this faculty." said the Red Queen.  
"Purely accidental. I can assure you on that." The doctor simply gathers the paper on the floor and places them on the table.

"Nothing wrong with being a medic." comments the Red Queen.

"Oh, there is nothing wrong. It is just that I am more scientist than a doctor." answers the doctor as the doctor walks over and get a paper towel.

"Really?"

"I like to explore and learn than fix things." remarks the doctor.  
"From what I have heard around the base, I do not think that it is an accurate assessment. It sounds like that you have earned the title of doctor." said the Red Queen.

"I sincerely doubt that." said the doctor. The doctor simply bent down and pick up the dirty marshmallow from the floor. The Red Queen smiles underneath her hood.

She heard about the strange scientist. This scientist did tell the truth. It was accidental. Of course, the previous doctor died during a Cybermen's attack. Without missing a beat, the doctor became the physician of this rebellion. The doctor did not hesitate in stepping in by stitching up the wounded.

"But if you don't mind me asking…" continues the doctor.  
"Why am I here?" finishes the Red Queen.  
"Yes.  
"I need you to do something for me."  
"Yeah."

"The male prisoner that is downstairs in the cells?"  
"Yes."

"Did you find anything unusual?" asks the Red Queen.  
"Not really." The doctor stops. "I'm lying. Actually I did."

"You did not find anything unusual, did you?"  
"That is just it. He is not enhanced. His immune system is normal. In fact, his immune system is a regular human being, when it should be working overtime at this moment because of the environment. Everyone else has a form of steroid or an enhanced immuned system. His blood work should have shown some sort of enhancement because it does not pay to be human during this time. You have to be more than human. It is as…."

The doctor stops her train of thought.

"Wait. You knew that I was going to find something peculiar about his blood." states the doctor as she realizes that the Red Queen simply stood there.  
"Yes."  
"How did you know?"

"It was a guess."

"Guess?"  
"It is not hard to form an educated guess with the information that is at hand." said the Red Queen. The statement sends a chill up the doctor's spine even though the doctor is wearing a hazmat suit. The doctor wonders what information that she had to make such a guess. "Here is what I need you to do."

"What?"  
"The prisoner. I need you to make sure that he is completely fine. Give him a physical."  
"He seems healthy."

"Make sure that he does not have any viruses or strange bacteria. I want him to be healthy and ready to go in a few hours. We cannot leave anything on chance." State the Red Queen.  
"Why is that?"

"Within the next twenty fours hours, this rebellion will be over. One way or another." said the Red Queen.

The Red Queen walks out of the lab with a confused doctor wondering what is going on.

* * *

As they walks down a long hallway, Jenny is surrounded by five men with guns. Each man had been trained to fight against any threat. They have a 100% accuracy rate with any gun. They have been trained in ten different martial arts. Yet, neither one of them seems confident in their abilities against the blonde woman named Jenny. They did not know why.

The little group surrounding Jenny did not bother her too much considering what she can do. Being walked down a narrow hallway however, put her in a disadvantage. It should flatter her that they were doing this. It shows to her that they were being very caution with her.

Jenny sees a faded purple door at the end of the hallway. It is like any other door. It was what was on the other side that she likes to know.

"I have been a very polite prisoner. You could do me the privilege of giving me an idea on where I am going." states Jenny to her five guards.

"The Red Queen wants to see you." answers one of the guards.

"Red Queen wants to see me? Why would she want to see me? I am just a lowly girl looking for Mr. Right." said Jenny in an innocent voice.

"You sneak into our base. You fool our guards. You break out our prisoner…" said one of the guards.

"Friend. Not your prisoner. My friend." corrects Jenny.

"Friend. And you nearly broke out of our base without a care in the world. You are as harmless as an angry Weeping Angel" said the muscular man from behind.

"Weeping Angel. I once met a Weeping Angel. I do not think I have ever seen anything runs away from me so quickly in my life." comments Jenny as she smiles at the memory.

Once Jenny approaches the door, she turns to look at her guards, only to find that they were not there. She turns behind her to see that her guards stop walking beside her. They are staring at her with fright.

"What?"

"We are going to stay right here." said one of the guards.

Jenny places her attention back at the door.

"Was it something I said?" ask Jenny to no one in particular. She places her hand on the doorknob and turns it.

Her heart speeds up a little. She likes opening doors. In her mind, Jenny always hopes that there is a surprise behind the door. It could be a new life form for her to make a friend out of. It could be a broken down gadget that simply needs to be repair.

Jenny just simply opens the door and held her breath.

What she found is a throne room. The floors are made out of marble. There are column 'holding' up the ceiling. There are paintings on the ceiling of the wall. Jenny recognizes them as some of the greatest paintings in Earth's history.

What grab Jenny's attention is the person sitting on the throne. The Red Queen is looking at Jenny as Jenny walks into the room. Jenny hears the door behind her shut.

"Hello." said Jenny.  
"Hello." said the Red Queen as she stands up from the throne.

"Nice room." mentions Jenny.

"The base was constructed a long time ago before the rebellion. An alien race was going to use the United States as a focal point in its invasion. So, they constructed this base. Hence the long hallways, prison cells, and the throne room. Luckily for humanity, they were stopped before plans were initiated." explain the Red Queen as she walks toward Jenny.

"Lucky." said Jenny. She turns to look at the paintings. She did not have to ask whether they were the genuine thing. She already knew the answer. "How did you get the paintings here?"

"It is a long story. Let's just say that various museums were relived of them for safekeeping."

The Red Queen walks up to Jenny. Jenny kept her professional face on. The Red Queen checks out Jenny.

"How old are you?" ask the Red Queen.

"How old do you think I am?"  
"Older than you look. Considering that you are not human, it is a simple conclusion to figure out."

"I know." said Jenny. "Wait. How did you know that I am not human?"

"Because I was there when you were born."  
"Really?"

"Yes. You came out of the machine with a smile on your face, ready to take on the universe. You were everything that your father would hope for, yet did not know that he wanted." Explain the Red Queen.

"You were there?"

"Of course. I named you." said the Red Queen. She then removed her hood. When Jenny saw the red hair, her professional and curiosity left her. Jenny's smile simply widen.

"Donna?" said Jenny as she looks at the person in front of her.

"Hello, Jenny." said Donna Noble with her own smile on her face.

* * *

Chuck figured it was Thursday because he is sitting in his chair wearing only his underwear.

Within a few minutes of taking Jenny away, five guards open up his cell door. He looks at them and knew that he could take them. However, he had no idea where to go if he did. Escape is not the problem. Having an idea where he is to go, that is the problem. The guards know where to go. Until he had a good idea where Jenny went and how to get off the rebellion base, Chuck simply lifted his hand up in surrender and follow the guards with guns.

Within minutes, they led him into a lab, strip him of his clothes and they ran away. Chuck ran onto a seat. When Chuck saw the doctor who took his blood work from earlier, he could understand why. The hazmat suit crept him out.

The doctor walks in the room and looks at Chuck.

"I ran all possible tests on you." said the doctor.

"And?"  
"You are healthy and not carrying anything in you."  
"Yeah." said Chuck.

"Yeah is right. Question for you. Are you feeling rested?"  
"I think I do."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I think so."

"Well. I sure hope so. The Red Queen seems to have plan for you. What they are, I have no idea." said the doctor.  
"Really?"

"I know. You are really nothing special." The doctor looks at Chuck with curiosity.

"Thanks." said a disappointed Chuck.

"No. I mean you are a normal human being with no enhancements. I should have said that instead."

"Oh."

"So. How does a guy like you not have any enhancement?" ask the doctor as the doctor approaches Chuck.  
"Clean living?"  
The doctor approach Chuck and look at him. The closeness of the doctor did not give Chuck any reassurance on the sanity of the doctor.

"Can you do me a favor?" ask Chuck as he stare into the dark helmet of the doctor.

"Sure."  
"Can you take that suit off? It is freaking me out."  
"Oh." said the doctor.

"Yeah. It kind of makes you have that mad scientist vibe going."

"I did not know that." The doctor moves away from Chuck. The doctor looks around at the lab. "Well. I really could see where people would get that idea."

"It would explain why the guards ran away." Point out Chuck.

"I always thought it was peculiar that they always ran away from here."  
"So, are you going to take that off?" ask Chuck.

"Oh. Sorry." The doctor walks into the other room

Chuck starts scanning the room. He sees the equipments. What he did not see and was hoping for was a computer. He had hopes to get the blueprints of the base in order to escape.

Chuck could hear the zipper from the hazmat from the other room. Chuck gets up from the chair and start looking in the drawer, hoping to find a laptop. In one drawer, he found lollipop, which he takes out a yellow one. He opens another drawer to find knives, which he takes one. He opens another drawer to find aspirins.

"I must admit something to you, Chuck. I find you interesting." said the muffled voice of the doctor.

"Really? As in interesting as a…..dog?" said Chuck. He shakes his head at the lame attempt to continue the conversation. He then realizes that he was not wearing any pants. He closes the last drawer and walk over to the table that had his pants.

"There is something about you that I can't put my finger on." Chuck put his pants on.

"I just have that type of face." said Chuck as he zips up his pants. He grabs the knife that he found and put it in his pocket.

"That must be it." said the female voice.

Chuck stops moving. His eyes widen as his mind try to register what it just heard.

"I always get stop on the street. People thinks that I am famous or something." said Chuck as he hopes he could hear the voice again.

"That is not it, Chuck." said the female voice. His heart stops. He recognizes that voice. He hears the footstep come walking in the room. Chuck did not want to look at the doctor as she walks into the room. Still, he could not help himself. He looks up and sees the doctor out of the suit and wearing scrubs.

Chuck swallows the reminder saliva as he look at the doctor.

"I don't know, Chuck. Something about it is very….familiar. Does that even make any sense?" said the doctor.

"Not really." said Chuck as he stares at the black haired woman.

Of all the people, he did not really expect to see Jill Roberts, his ex girlfriend, to be here.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

She looks at Donna and she did not want to move. Every single one of her bones in her body told her to move and embraces the woman in front of her. Yet, her brain did not want to do that.

So, Jenny simply stands there.

"What's wrong?" asks Donna Noble as she stares at the silent woman. Donna still had a warm smile on her face.

"It is hard for me to explain." said Jenny as she stares at Donna Noble. Donna could not help but think that it is a funny thought coming from a Time Lord.

Donna's smile lowers a bit.

"Well. We still have some time. So, try." encourages Donna Noble.

"I am happy to see you. Really, I am. It has been a while since I seen you. In fact, I am elated. But, it is… not the same. You are here. By yourself." Jenny's small smile slowly goes away. "Every time I see you in my mind, you are with my father. You are running to or running away from something. That is how I remember you. It is how I see you. Yet. You are here. By yourself."

Donna nod.

"You are exactly like your father. You are always thinking." said Donna as she already knows what is going on in the Time Lord's mind.

"If you are here by yourself, it means something has happen because you and my father would never…" Jenny had to stop herself. She did not want to say it, but the thought push out of her mind and into her mouth. " Is my father…?"

Jenny did not want to complete that thought that was in her scattered mind. It is a thought that she never thought she would even get. Yet, there it is. It is screaming in her mind to say it out loud. Jenny, however, knows that words have powers and she did not dare give that thought any power.

Donna looks at the female Time Lord. She gives a reassuring smile to Jenny, hoping that it smash the fear in Jenny.

"Your father is not dead." said Donna.  
"Oh." A sense of relief engulfs the female Time Lord. "That is good."

Jenny's relief goes away as quickly as it appears. Donna expects this. Jenny then looks at Donna with some sorrow. Donna could tell what is forming in Jenny's mind. No psychic ability is necessary to figure it out. It would be the next question on Donna's mind if she was in Jenny's position.

"So why are you not with my father? Why is he not here with you?" ask Jenny.

Donna looks at the female Time Lord. She walks up to Jenny and wraps her arms around Jenny. Jenny did the only thing that she could: She hugs Donna back.

"It is a long and complicated story."

"I would like to hear it." said Jenny. She did not know why, but Jenny knows that she needs to hear this story.

Donna let go of her embrace from Jenny and look at her. Donna knew that the story had to be told to Jenny. She had to tell someone. Donna wants to tell someone.

"It starts with me meeting your father for the first time. I know we never told you. We told you what your father did. I am pretty sure that I never told you how I met your father. I was wearing a wedding dress and your father was being a brooding emo in his TARDIS." said Donna.

Jenny smiles. She knew that she was going to get an answer even if Donna had to take the long road there.

Jenny did not care because she wanted to hear this story. It has been a while since she heard a good story.

* * *

Chuck knew that this was not the same person that he knew. The girl that he knew let him go a long time ago. The person he knew told him that she slept with Bryce Larkin in order to break his heart. The person he knew tried to kill the love of his life. The person he knew also helped him find his father.

The Jill Roberts that he knew is not here. At least that what is repeating in his mind.

"What's wrong?" ask Jill to Chuck.

"Nothing." answers Chuck. "Nothing at all."

Jill's face turns to disappointment.

"It's my ears. Isn't it?" ask Jill as she rush to her desk. Jill starts to move stuff that is on her desk. Jill finally pick up a hand held mirror and looks at her reflection. "My ears are so weird looking.

Chuck watches at Jill as her face show her frustration at her ears. In the end, Chuck had to laugh.

"What?" Jill turns to look at Chuck. Chuck calms his laughter down.

"I'm sorry. You just reminded me of someone." explains Chuck.

The Jill that Chuck knew had spats of insecurity. Her studies never suffer from that. Her focus and grasp of the knowledge of her studies were something that did not shake. Her confidence shines in that area. Her physical appearance, on the other hand, is something else entirely. One of the things that she did felt insecure about was her ears.

"It's not funny." said Jill in frustration.

"I know. I'm sorry. It is just my friend would wear earmuff when she was around me when I first met her. It took her about four dates until she finally took off her earmuffs." said Chuck.

"Earmuffs? I never thought of that." said Jill as she process the information. She looks into the mirror and tries to imagine wearing earmuffs.

"Relax. You don't have to wear earmuffs." reassures Chuck.

"Really?"  
"You have normal size ears." said Chuck.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am sure."

"OK." said Jill. She takes another look at her reflection. Chuck could tell that she was trying to reassure herself that Chuck is telling the truth. Chuck knew the drill. She would tilt her head to the right to get a better view on the left one. She would tilt her head to the left. She would then look straight ahead. Then she wiggles her nose to make sure that her nose is not out of place.

This Jill did the exact same thing.

Jill let go of the insecurities and places her focus on Chuck.

"Ok. Let's focus on you." said Jill.

"Why?"  
"I need to find out what makes you so special that the Red Queen wants you to be healthy."

"Who knows?" said Chuck. Considering he had no idea what Jill would do if she knew that he had the Intersect in his head or the fact that Jenny is an alien, Chuck decide that the best course of action was to play dumb.

"Well, Chuck. There is something special about you that the Red Queen sees in you. You are technically combat ready."  
"Combat ready?" said Chuck. He looks around the lab and then looks at Jill. "No, I don't think I am."  
"Can you shoot a gun?"

"That is not it." explains Chuck. "I don't know who I am fighting."

"That's right. Rupert said that you had no idea what was going on." Jill bit her bottom lip as she ponders this strange information.

"I got an idea but I really don't know who I am dealing with."  
"You don't know?"

"No. I don't."  
"We're fighting the Dictator." said Jill as if that should explain everything to Chuck.  
"Details. That is what I need." clarify Chuck to the scientist.  
Jill looks at the strange man that is supposed to be her test subject.

"OK. If I tell you the details, you also got to hear my theories." states Jill.

Chuck smiles. If this was not the Jill that he knew, it was pretty close. In college, Chuck was the sounding board for Jill. While he did not know a thing that she would be explaining, it helps her in trying to make him understand. If he understood, it meant that Jill had her thoughts straight. If her thought were straight, she would pass the exams. In the end, it always ended with Jill simply rambling on to a confused Chuck, who would have rather be watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"OK."

Jill puts on a big smile.

"Great." said Jill. She runs into the next room. Chuck un-wraps a lollipop and put it into his mouth. Jill runs back holding a big book. Chuck sees that she has a smile.

Jill always smiles in different ways to Chuck. So far, this alternative universe Jill has a lot of the same mannerisms as the Jill he knew. One thing that she did is always smiles at her obsession.

Chuck takes his eyes off of Jill and look at the book. The book has a thickness that is only found in phone books.

"That is a big book." comment Chuck as he watch Jill put the book down on the table. The book made the thum sound that echo in the room.  
"I know. This is all the information that I have. I have been researching about the Dictator ever since I was a little girl."  
"Oh."  
"I know. That man has been around for a long time. One of my theories is that there is more than one Dictator. I bet it is his grandson that is running the show."  
"Well, let's stick with the confirmed information." said Chuck.

"OK. The Dictator appeared out of nowhere, walked out of a crowd and shot JFK. He turned and ran back into the crowd. Secret Service tried to chase after him, but they could not find him on that day. Unfortunately, it was not the last time anyone would hear from him. He would appear later on in sixies mocking the law enforcement. He would always come back wearing something different or using some sort of weapon to scare people. What anyone did not know at the time was the fact that he was going into space and conquering planets. After he conquered the planet, he would take their most powerful weapon and come back to Earth and terrorized people with it. Why, no one really knows, but he would always appear." explains Jill.  
"How do we know this? What is our source for this information." asks Chuck.

"TORCHWOOD." said Jill. Chuck closes his eyes. He felt the flash coming. He really did not want Jill to know what he was doing. So, he closes his eyes.

_Torchwood logo is on a memo._

_ A picture of a man wearing a black coat while holding a gun._

_ Documents blacked out._

_ A picture of a waterfront property with a crater._

"Are you alright?" ask Jill.

"Yeah. Just getting a headache." lies Chuck. The flash did not help him too much. The important information was blacked out, which was something that Chuck was not used to. "So, what's Torchwood?"  
"It was an organization whose sole purpose was to protect humanity from aliens. It turns out that aliens have been visiting Earth for a long time. Centuries, in fact." explains Jill.  
"Hah. I did not know that."  
"Anyway, Torchwood had been trying to catch the Dictator. They thought that he was someone else." said Jill as she open up her book.

"Who?" asks Chuck.

"That is not important. What is important is the fact that they never could catch up with the Dictator. As time went on, the Dictator started to show up during periods of unrest."

"When you mean unrest, you mean wars or revolution, don't you?" said Chuck.

"Gold Star for Chuck. That is right. Once it was confirmed that he was there, the unrest became pure chaos."

"Let me guess, it got to the point that the chaos spread."  
"Exactly. It spread to every country. That was his plan. When the Earth was in a constant state of war, he came in and restored order."

"Everyone loves him after that and set him up as the ruler or Earth." reasons Chuck.

"No. With everyone distracted, he came in and started to conquer countries." Correct Jill. "Once he conquered China, everyone places their focus on him. The thing was that it was too late. Everyone was so depleted of resources that no one was able to muster up a good defense or offense."

"It makes sense. Why try and conquer a strong opponent when you can strike him at his weakest moment." comments Chuck as lessons from comic books and John Casey came into his head.

"He probably could have done it, but he did it with the minimum use of resources."

"Why was it so important?"

"It was later found out that he still had other planets conquered." said Jill.

Chuck made a face as if he could not believe that he did not think about it.

"Makes sense."

"I know. When he did conquer Earth, the Dictator set up puppet leaders to watch over the planet while he went back into space."

"They are not important because they do not have any power."

"He actually set them up with enough power. They have their own security force, but after the conquest, most people simply lost hope."

"Really?"  
"The rebellion did not really get into full swing until the Red Queen appeared. What she did was provide something that no one had before."  
"Information." Concludes Chuck.  
"Right. Information about hidden abandoned bases. Information about weapon shipments. She is the only reason that the rebellion exist." explains Jill.

* * *

Jenny looks at Donna.

"Meta crisis" said Jenny. She get up and start to pace. "That is impossible."

"Of course, it is impossible. The funny thing about your father is the fact that the impossible can happen. Unfortunately, so is the consequences of such things." said Donna.

"And my father wiped out your memory."  
"Blocked it. Specific things can trigger memory. Like…

"Flashes." said Jenny.

"Yes. Like flashes. When that happens, it is like a broken dam, all of my memories with your father come back to me. When that happens, I could potentially die."

"My father would not let that happened."

"Of course not, your father is smart. He has places some safeguards to prevent that to happen."

Jenny looks at Donna with sad eye.

"Don't" said Donna.  
"What?" ask Jenny.

"Don't pity me. I have a good life. I am married to a wonderful man and I have a family that is still alive. And are you ready for this, I am rich."  
"Rich?"

"Turns out that one of my wedding gift was a winning lottery ticket. I am considered one of the wealthiest women in England." said Donna with a smile.

"Still it is not the same." points out the Time Lord.

"No. Being with your father is extra original. I would never trade it for anything in the world. While I am very furious with your father for not thinking of another way to save my life, I can not really blame him. He did what he could for his friend. I would have done the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot." said Donna.

"Do you miss it?" asks Jenny.  
"Of course I do. I love it. But I cannot dwell on it. Especially with reality keep on changing. Your father needs to do a better job in making sure reality does not do that."

Jenny start to chuckle.

"That is what I want to see." said Donna.

"What?"

"Your smile. You have a wonderful smile."  
"It is only a smile."

"You already forgot that I have not seen your smile for so long."  
Jenny could not stop smiling now. Donna, the person who named her, just told her that she has a wonderful smile.

"So, how are you still alive?" ask Jenny.

"Under normal circumstance, your father's safeguards. At this moment, it is this robe. It is a Time Lord's robe."  
"My father's?"

"No. I do not know who, but I found it beside me when reality changed into this. It has been keeping me alive. It seems to regulate my mind. It keeps it from being overcharged with all the information that your father had. This has been the only time that I have all of my my memories intact for such a long period of time. "

"Does that normally happen to you?"  
"No. Normally, when reality changes, I get a brief glimpse on what I am supposed to do and I do it. Afterward, I collapse and I don't remember anything after that."

"That does not make any sense."

"I do not understand it. I have a feeling that I am the universe's chess piece. It is always moving me to where I am the most helpful. The last time that I remember reality changing, I had to sponsors a museum exhibition of the Pandorica. That somehow helped your father to get reality back into order." Explain Donna.

"Wait. Are you saying that you have to put the pieces in place so that my father can save the universe?" ask Jenny.

"Yes."

"OK. That leads back to my original question: Where is my father?" ask Jenny.

"I have been asking that question for a long time. I keep getting the same answer: I don't know. Your father is usually here by now. This is the sort of thing that your father lives for. In fact, this is tailor made for your father." said a disappointed Donna.

"So, my father is not here."  
"If he is, I have not been able to find him. It has been very exhausting trying to find him." Explains Donna.  
"Wait. You have been looking for him."

"Yes. You see why I have not been able to focus on the Dictator. I have been supplying the rebellion with information, I have been looking for your father, I have been fighting the Dictator's allies and I have been supplying the other rebellions on other planets with information as well. If it was not for the fact that I am very good at multi-tasking, I would be tired at the moment."

"Have you rest?"  
"Yes. Not much though. However time is now a factor."

"So, you know what is going to happen." said Jenny.  
"The moment that you came out of the Time Vortex, the clock started to tick. Yes, I know." said Donna.

"Well, it looks like you have to settle for me saving reality."

"I guess I will have too." smiles Donna.

"Ok, I guess the big question is who this Dictator is. That is all I have heard since I arrived. The information that I have gather is the fact that he may be the source of all of the problems." Said Jenny, wondering what is the answer to the second most important question on her mind is.

* * *

Chuck look through the book. Jill decided that she smell funny and went to the shower. Chuck is shifting the information that she told him with the book. The rebellion had been fighting this man for a long time. What Chuck could not understand is the fact that he seems to keep winning. It did not make any senses. He just did not know why.

He turns a page and his heart stop.

There it was: A picture of a suspect in Jill's list. Chuck could not believe what he was staring at. There is the answer. If he had any doubt in his mind about the Dictator, it went away as he stares at the picture. He is the reason that reality changed. He is the reason that everything is wrong.

* * *

"Everything started to change when he came into the pictures." explain Donna. "Even though there has been contradictory information, I have noticed a common thread. It is always seem to start during the same time. I am willing to bet that the Dictator is the one putting out that information."

"It makes sense. If anyone knows who he is, they would know any of his weak spots."

"Exactly. Someone knows who he could be." said Donna. "Unfortunately for him he is dealing with me."

Jenny smile at the defiant Donna Noble.

"Before I met your father, I spent some time with a scientist. Picky little skinny thing. He always made me do things his way. Even the filing."

"You do realize I have to ask this" said Jenny.

"How picky was he?"

"Yes. How picky was he?"

"He was so picky that he had to have his buns not touching the dressing."

"We are talking about bread?"

"Of course." said Donna with a smile. Jenny chuckles. "Anyway, he also made me do some research, which made it difficult considering I had no idea what I was reading half the time."

"Now?"

"I know more than he does. The point is that I know what I am looking for."

"The result?"

"The result is that I have potential candidates for the Dictator. Five individuals."

Donna Noble walks over to the throne. She lifts up the seat of the chair and reveals a hidden drawer. She pulls out five folders. She walks over to Jenny and handed it to her.

"Based on research, my intelligence and gut feeling, one of these men is the Dictator." said Donna.

Jenny open one folder and look at the information. She tosses it to the side. She opens the next folder. After reading that information, she tosses it aside. When she opens the third folder, Jenny simply stare at the picture.

"It is this person."

"What makes you say that?" ask Donna.

"Because this would be something he would do." said Jenny as she stares at the picture.

The picture was a very familiar person. It was Major Tom.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

He is lying on the throne made from the bones of an extinct alien race. He has forgotten what race it was. The only thing that he remembers about the race is the fact that their bones made the perfect material for his throne.

He look at the ceiling like it is an oil painting. He looks at the paint on the ceiling and wonders who pick such a hideous color. The color had a puke brown tint. He then looks at the cracks on the ceiling and wonders how long it has been there. He blows his nose out to clear the residues that are in his nose. He wipes his mouth clean of the powder that did come out of his nose.

Slowly, he could hear it in his head. It is very quiet that he did not expect to hear. It sounds like a small humming noise in his head. He tilts his head wondering what it was. His curiosity disappears when he realizes what it was.

Like most people that did not want to hear his own thoughts, Major Tom points his universal remote at the radio and turn on his radio. Even though his thoughts were whispers, it would not be long before they start to scream in his mind.

The song starts to play with a beat that is steady. There is a slow techno feel to the song. Major Tom could not remember who sung this song, but he did not care. He just wants his thoughts to be drowned out.

_I don't eat._

_I don't sleep._

_I do nothing but think of you._

_ I don't eat._

_ I don't sleep._

_I do nothing but think of you._

_ You keep me under your spell._

_ You keep me under your spell._

_ You keep me under your spell. _

He had no idea why this song got stuck in his head, but it could not leave him. It repeats the same lyrics. It repeats the same beats. It had that weird 1980's feel about it. The female singers were not that good in his mind. Yet, he had listened to the song nonstop for a whole month. The song somehow reminds Major Tom about something. The unknown thought just keeps bugging him. Major Tom just wishes the thought would go away.

Major Tom slowly gets up from the throne. His back aches. Major Tom starts to stretch out the kinks in his body. He is wearing no shirt and only black jeans. Major Tom has allows his hair to grow long. He has not shaven his beard for a long time. While his body is still fit, he did not care. He had no one to impress. Still he did want to look at himself in the Mirror of No Illusion. The cold white marble floor reminds him to wear shoes. He decided to simply ignore the reminder.

The Mirror of No Illusion shows whoever that is looking into it what they should see. They see their bare essentials. It strips all of the enhancements done to a body. The Mirror shows the truth within someone. Most individuals have gone mad after looking into Mirror. For Major Tom, it just reinforces what he had always known.

He walks up the Mirror of no Illusion and look at himself. The Mirror shows Major Tom that his hair has gone white. His face is ugly. It looks like he fought garbage disposal with his face. His skin has liver spots and weird acne. His muscles have whither away. Major Tom's eyes have lost any spark and are blood shot. He could see his ribs underneath his skin. According to the Mirror of No Illusion, he has lost all of his teeth.

For a minute, Major Tom simply looks at what he has become. For that minute, he thought he was the most handsome man in the world. So, Major Tom simply smiles with his toothless mouth.

He closes his eye. Major Tom could hear someone walking in his throne room. He looks away from the Mirror and look at the entrance at his throne room. He sees his pathetic allies that were supposed to help him run his empire. He points his remote at the radio and stops the song. They would not appreciate the song like he did. Still, songs had a way of annoying his allies. That alone amuses him to no end. He points the radio and picks another song.

Major Tom smile at the song. It is David Bowie. He places his focus back at the Mirror of Illusion and start to dance at the song.

_We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when  
Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend  
Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes  
I thought you died alone, a long long time ago_

_Oh no, not me_  
_I never lost control_  
_You're face to face_  
_With the Man Who Sold The World_

He looks at the magnificent being that he had become. Major Tom then looks at his allies and thought that they were simply… inadequate.

Of course, he knew better than to call the individuals in the room allies. Each one of his allies was only his allies out of convenient. Each one of them wants to stab him in the back and take over what he has.

Davros, the creator of the Daleks. The old man in his chair which, Major Tom could not think but found it funny. Major Tom could feel the old man's hatred to him. Yet, he had to be loyal to the man. After all, Major Tom could have let the Dalek race die.

The Cyber Leader. He is the leader of the Cyber man. There is no hatred in those eyes. Their armor shines against the light. However, Major Tom knew that their eyes are nothing but cold.

"Ugly: is watching Major Tom with amusement. That is what Major Tom called the leader of the Krillitanes in its natural form. Still, their leader had assumes a human form. With his slick back hair and expensive suit, he stands ready to report to Major Tom. Even now as Major Tom dances, Major Tom could see the calculating mind of the Krillitane at work in constructing a plan to kill him.

General Caal, the leader of the Sontarans. While the species would not stab someone in the back, they had no problem shooting your face off.

Each one of them wants his empire. Major Tom smiles at the thought. When it happens, Major Tom knows that their reign would be over within a minute. They simply did not know what is actually happening at the edge of the universe.

"Gentleman. What brings you here?" ask Major Tom.

"Sir." acknowledges General Caal. "We have the location of a rebel base."

"Really?" said Major Tom as he kept dancing. His mind is chuckling at the Sontaran General. Being all stiff made Major Tom want to dances.

"Yes. With your permission, I want to lead a platoon of my men to extinguish these pests."

"Are you sure, this time?" said Major Tom as he points the remote at the radio again. He changes the song. He recognizes the three tones of the new song that is playing and put on a bigger smile. He is lucky. It is another David Bowie song.

_Do you remember a guy that's been  
In such an early song  
I've heard a rumour from Ground Control  
Oh no, don't say it's true_

"Yes, sir." Major Tom looks at the General.

"The last time that you thought that you had the rebels, all you found was an empty cave." reminds Major Tom to the General. The General let out a huff, which made Major Tom leap about like a drug crazed ballerina.

"We received bad Intel. We are confident that this is their location." said the General with conviction. Major Tom leaps over to the General and look at him in the eyes. Major Tom's smile disappears and he places all of his focus on the General.

"If you are wrong, I will kill you and everyone under your command." said Major Tom like he is reciting a grocery list.

"I understand." said the General without looking away.

"Good." Major Tom resumes in his dancing away from the General. "You have my permission to slaughter them all."  
"Thank you." said the General.

_Ashes to ashes, funk to funky  
We know Major Tom's a junkie  
Strung out in heaven's high  
Hitting an all-time low_

"Is there anything else that I should worry about?" ask Major Tom.

"The equation has been completed. We will be able to run our tests." said 'Ugly."

Major Tom smile at this development. It has been a pet project that Ugly had been developing. It may solve a foreseeable problem. Major Tom did not know what the project is about, only the end results. The end results would change the game again.

"So, all the universe's secrets will be our." said Major Tom as he dances.

"Yes." answer "Ugly."  
"Good." said Major Tom as his dance became weird. "Cyber-leader?"  
"All resources are at your command. We finally secure the last base."

"Excellent. How about you, Davros? How is my security on this tiny blue ball?" Major Tom stops dancing and looks at the creator of the Daleks.

"All secure." answer Davros.  
"Good." said Major Tom. He put on a smile that only cats would envy. "Now, go. I want to be alone."

They left the crazed man alone with his song dancing.

* * *

Davros is alone in the hallway. Like Major Tom, he did not trust any of Major Tom's allies. Of course, he did not trust himself in not killing them. Each one of them went on their separate way. They never interact with each other. The only thing that they did was eye each other with envy, hatred, and resentment.

As Davros goes down the hallway, a yellow Dalek approach him.

"Have you informed Major Tom of the opening in the Time Vortex?" ask the yellow Dalek.

"No. It is obvious that the man is out of his mind." answers Davros.

The Dalek race owed Major Tom their existence, something that Davros hated. The most destructive race known to the universe owed a human. What he did was unthinkable: Major Tom made the Dalek race a security force over the planet Earth. While the Dalek race had been resorted to be security for Major Tom, Davros had a certainty in his lifetime: His hated enemy. It is a matter of time that he would make an appearance. Davros place a lone Dalek to watch for the arrival of the Doctor.

When report came in from the lone Dalek that something came out of the Time Vortex, Davros chuckle at the thought of Major Tom going up against the Doctor. The thought was killed when the lone Dalek reported that it was not a blue box that came out of the Time Vortex, but a mere spaceship.

"What about Major Tom's weapon? If he finds out that you are plotting against him…"

"If he does not know it by now, then his mind is already in ruins. It would not be long before he is finished." Answers Davros. "No. Only a fool would think that my intention is honorable. He knows that I am plotting against him. He just does not know how."

"And the opening?" ask the yellow Dalek. "Something did come out."

"It means nothing. If he did not come out of the Time Vortex, then it is meaningless." Davros could not hide his disappointment.

"Whatever came out of the opening, it blinded a ship filled with Daleks." explains the yellow Dalek.

"Blinded?" That did grab his attention. Davros stop and look at the yellow Dalek.  
"Their sights have returned, but they lost the thing that came out of the Time Vortex."  
"Interesting." said Davros. He takes a moment to think of this new development. "Search for this thing. Do not tell anyone. Whatever this thing is, it has technology that could cripple us. Our "allies" will look for it."

Davros and the yellow Dalek start up their walk.

"In the meantime, have a squad search this castle. I want to find Major Tom's weapon. The Sotarans are launching an attack on a rebel base. If it is successful in exterminating the rebels, the Sotarans will place their focus on Major Tom and his weapon. This will be our only chance in order to find the secret weapon. No one that mess up in his mind could possibility conquer the universe without having a powerful weapon. I want that weapon." commands Davros.

The Dalek leave his creator with its orders.

* * *

"I know that look." said Donna as she looks at the young Time Lord.

"What look would that be?" ask Jenny.

"Your father would have these moments that he left himself unguarded. He forgets that I was there and would show what he was thinking. He would always make that face when all of his thoughts would weigh him down."

"Really?"

"Yes. And you are making that same face right now."

"It is just that Major Tom has been….for a lack of a better word, an annoyance that has simply become a danger to everyone." explains Jenny. "He was some hood when I met him. Now, he is a dictator over the universe. It does not make any sense. How did he became that much of a threat over night?"  
"I do not know. I have been busy. But we can't dwell on that at the moment. We have about an hour before this base is found." said Donna.

"Excuse me?"  
"It is another reason why I am here. I found a mole within my network that just told the Sontarans where this base is located." explain Donna.

"Things are not going to get easy, will it?"

"Would you want it to?"

"Good point."

* * *

There was a time that Chuck wonder what it would be like to have an arch villain. He could remember that time. He was six and he was playing with Morgan Grimes. While they re-enacted the fight scene from Return of the Jedi, Chuck did not think it was the same. He knew that his friend would become his Chewbacca to his Han Solo. They would pretend that they would fly their Millennium Falcon and fly towards another adventure.

Still, he could not help but wonder what it would be like to have a Darth Vader.

Of course that changed when he got the Intersect. Chuck had to deal with way too many people that wanted to kill him. In reality, the villain sometimes wins. It was not an idea that he likes to have but, it was something that his father's death reinforced. Arch villains were only for the comic books.

Yet here is one: Major Tom. Chuck is glad that Major Tom is not his arch villain, but it still scares him that this man continues to plague Jenny. How did he do it? How has Major Tom change all of reality to fit his own needs?

So many thoughts fly by in his mind. Chuck could feel himself losing his sense of composure. He could feel despair want to smack him. He had to close his eyes and imagines the only thing that forces him to compose himself. When he could not see her face, Chuck run toward a small sink that is located in the corner of the lab and vomit in it.  
"Are you alright?" ask Jill as she watch Chuck vomit into the sink. She had finished her shower. She is wearing clean clothes and wearing her black frame glasses. Her hair is still a little wet from the shower.

Chuck spit out the reminding stuff in his mouth.

"Yeah." Answer Chuck. "Do you have any water?"

"Sure." Jill walks over to a table and pick up a bottle. She walks back to Chuck and give it to him. He opens the bottle and rinses his mouth with the water. He spit the water in the sink and drinks some water. He did not like the thought of not seeing Sarah again.

"I don't think you are alright." said Jill.

"I am." said Chuck.

"You are lying." said Jill. Chuck turn to see Jill, a person that he did not expect to see. She is giving him a stern look. Chuck smiles, hoping that it deter Jill from asking any more questions.

"I am fine. I just had a nauseating feeling."

"Don't lie to me." said Jill as she walks over to the sink. There is a series of drawers off to the side. She open a drawer take out a towel. She gives it to Chuck.

"I'm not." Said Chuck as he wipes his mouth.

"I don't know you. But I do know what it is like to be lied to. I know that you are lying to me, Chuck. So, stop." She places her face to close to Chuck's face that he could feel the heat from her.

This is not the Jill that he knew. It was a different Jill. Yet, somehow she knew that he was lying. Chuck backs away from Jill.

"Alright. I kind of know Major Tom." said Chuck.

"Major Tom?" Jill looks at Chuck in confusion. He points at the book. She walks over to her book of theories. She picks it up and sees the picture. There is excitement in her eyes that Chuck recognizes. Chuck can tell that she just put the pieces together.

"My friend and I have been trying to stop him."

"Really."  
"Yeah." said Chuck. He knew that disappointment is in his voice.

"Not doing a good job, are you?"

"No."

"That has to be why the Red Queen wants you to be ready. She must know that is why you are here." said Jill. She smiles.

"Really?"  
"The Red Queen is smarter than 99% of the human population. She must have figured that out."  
"Considering that we have never met her?"  
"We have no idea how the Red Queen does it, but she seems know stuff that we don't know."

Chuck wonders what that supposed to mean.

"She was here. She wanted me to run more test on you. She said that you had to be ready. Considering what she said after that, she may be right."

"What did she said?"  
"She said that within twenty four hours, the rebellion would be done."

Chuck felt a chill up his spine.

"Oh, that can't be good." said Chuck.

Chuck start to pace. There are too many things that seem...odd. Just the ominous saying set his alarm in his head off. Too many questions that he did not have the answer.

His ex girlfriend being here did not help him any.

"Where is the Dictator?" ask Chuck.

"He is in the Omega's Tower. After he conquest this planet, he made no intention of hiding. In fact, everyone knows where he is. There is like daily attempts on his life."

"Let me guess, he has guards."  
"He has a whole army. There is no way in getting into the palace must less getting to him."

"If we can get into the palace, can we get to him?"

"Yes." Jill walks over to her book. "The man is so cocky that he even published the blueprints of his palace."

Jill opens up to the page of the blueprints. Chuck walks over and looks at the blueprints. He starts flipping through the various blueprints.

"I wonder…." Being around his handlers for so long, Chuck could not help but look for openings and weakness. Instantly, he saw one.

"What about the sewer connected to the palace? Have there been any attacks from there?" ask Chuck.

"No." said Jill with no hesitation.

"How come?"  
"It's the sewer. Who would want to go through the sewer?"  
"Well. It leads straight to the center of the palace." said Chuck as he looks at the blueprints. Even now, he could hear John Casey's voice scream out a plan.

Jill looks at the blue prints.

"I never noticed that." Jill looks at the plans. "There are no traps. Nothing that would indicate any guards. I wonder if Rupert knows about it."

She takes the plans off of Chuck's hand and walk out of the lab.

"Hey." said Chuck as he rushes after her.


	36. Chapter 36

Wake up.

I know that you are awake. I have you strapped in various machines that are monitoring every bodily functions. Based on their readings, I do know that you are awake and just simply faking it. Do me this favor and just simply open your eyes.

…

That is more like it.

You had me worried. You have been unconscious for so long that I almost given up on you. I thought you may have acquired an alien virus that killed you. Another hypothesis that I formed was that you may have given up on life and simply quit. You have no idea how much it pleases me that you are back with us in the land of the living.

I can tell by the look on your face that you are slightly confused. That is very easy to fix. Let me get you up to date.

My name is...

I am sorry. I cannot answer that. I do not even remember my name. It has been so long since I actually heard my name that I do not even remember it. Sad isn't it. It does not matter. He calls me Ugly as if it is some sort of insult. Beauty does not really matter to me. So you can refer to me as Ugly. It does not matter. What matters is what you are.

You are currently my hostage.

A very important hostage.

The problem is the I do not know why.

I may have to actually explain that statement.

I injected you with a very powerful tranquilizer in order to kidnap you and your companion. The problem with this tranquilizer is that it has a very powerful and unfortunate side effect. It literally wipes out your memory. You do not have no memory at this point in time. You do not know what is your name. You do not remember what you do. You do not even know who your father is. You probably do not even understand a word that I am saying at this moment. That is why you are so confused. Unfortunately, it does pose for a problem.

I don't know why you are so important and you don't have the answer to that question.

You see. I work for the Dictator. He has ruled for so long in so many universes that I am pretty sure that everyone in existence wants him dead. Myself is included.

I am the last of my kind. My species were called the Krillitanes. We were a spectacular species. We were survivors.

….

Funny, isn't it. That was a cosmic joke that no one told us. Everyone says that the last one that survives wins. That is full of crap. You do not win. You lose. You are alone. That is what I am. To make my existence miserable, I am forced to work for the one who executed my entire species. I am definitely the loser of my kind.

I have been in his service for so long that I know his moods. To be fair, most of his moods range from not stoned to stoned out of his mind. I thought for sure that I would find him dead from an overdose.

As I have pointed out before, I am not that lucky.

My initial plan was to be in his service until I found out what was his secret weapon. What made this human so powerful, that he was able to conquer the whole universe with the slightest of ease. No one would have thought that I would still be in his service for so long. I know I did not.

When your group of rebels tried to attack the palace, it did something to him. It provoked an emotion. He seemed happy. He could not believe that you used the sewers to get into the palace. He could not simply believe that you did not realize that it was a trap. Why did you think he made it known for so many years that there was a "hole" in place's security? He placed it there so he would know when anyone attack the palace. It made him giggle. It provoked him out of his drug induced slumber and into action. He got himself cleaned up and waited for you. Like rats in a maze looking for the cheese, you and the rebels walked into that trap that he laid out so many years ago. He wanted to be there when you realized that he was the winner of this long game. I have a feeling that he wanted to feel something...different.

Then he saw you.

When he saw you, the Dictator had another emotion: Anger. That happiness that he had erased when he saw you. I have never seen that out of him. He always had that cool demeanor in every situation. Somehow your presence made it personal. No one in their right mind would unleashed that many angry monsters just to kill some small group of rebels.

You made him feel something that he did not want. You can tell by his face.

I do not know who you are, but you are important. I want to know why you are so important to him.

The plan was to simply kidnap you and get the information out of you in a timely fashion. I waited when you and your companion were separated from the herd in the midst of the chaos that the Dictator unleashed. Once I saw my spot, I made sure that I did not miss. Now, you are in my laboratory.

Of course, everything went straight to hell while I was executing my plan.

Who would have thought that the Daleks would be fighting an unknown spacecraft, which is showing them how weak they are? Who would foresee the eruption of rebel factions all through out this small world fighting against our forces? I thought for sure that there was no more fight left on this planet.

I blames this all on the rebel's leader: The Red Queen. She is the only one that could orchestrate million of small acts of rebellion throughout this world. It is only her that she have kept this rebellion alive for so long.

It does not matter. I do not really care for this planet or for your species. You can have this small world. I want to get off of this place and see the stars again. I want to see something different and feel something different. I am tired of this existence. I am tired of serving a crazed master. I want an end. I firmly believe that you will give it to me. I have to believe that. I need to believe that.

….

Sorry. I did not realize how much I have been holding that in.

Normally, I would take my time with you. I would torture you and force you to tell me what you know about the Dictator. I need to know why the Dictator lost all of his mind when he saw you. All of that swagger and coolness. He simply lost all of that. You are the reason and I want to know why. I am pretty sure that he is looking for you. Time is a factor and I no longer have that luxury in being patience.

What I am going to do is simple and quick.

I am going to give you this serum. It will counteract the tranquilizer side effect. You will remember everything. This serum also have a side effect. It will hurt.

Your mind will feel like a million hot needles are pressing on your brain. You will remember everything and it will hurt. You will not die, but you will be in so much pain that you will wish that you did.

Once I get what I want, I will make sure that you and your companion die a quick death.

I really hope what you have in your mind is important. I want this existence to end. I want to feel this burden that has been placed on me to be lifted. I want the Dictator's death to happen today. I really hope you can give that to me... Mr. Bartowski.

I am going to give you the serum now.

I am sorry that this will hurt. It is the only way.


	37. Chapter 37

"Ouch."

Chuck places his hand on the back of his head. There was a sharp pain in the back of his head. He did not know where it came from. Chuck could not help but start to rub it, hoping that the rubbing would ease the pain. He check his hand to see if there was blood coming from the back of his head. He let out a big sigh of relief when he did not see any blood. He places his focus back on the situation at hand as he try to ignore the pain. Chuck let out a couple of breaths as the pain slowly subsides.

The situation has changed. Jill had been keeping files on the man known to her as the Dictator. Chuck knew him as Major Tom. Of course, the name did not matter. What matters is the fact that the man is still a sick individual that had to be stop. The only thing is that Major Tom has an army. How to stop Major Tom is something Chuck is still trying to figure out. Of course, he has something that he did not have. He had Jill. Like the Jill he knew in his reality, she is still a researcher. She was hoping that there would be something to stop the man in her file, something she had been obsessing for a very long time.

Of course, Chuck found an answer after looking at the file for five minutes. At least he hoped he did.

He looks at the room. It had several monitors on the wall. The monitors had several video feeds on various sections of the base. On the opposite end of the wall, Chuck sees the map of Earth. The map shows the countries being divided. He see various names on the map. Chuck figured that the names were the generals of the rebellion. It also means that this room is the war room. At the moment, the important part of the room is the center.

Rupert and several of his closest lieutenants are looking at a holographic blueprint of Major Tom's palace in the middle of the room. Each individuals had a concern in their eyes. The thing that Chuck found was simply another entrance into the impenetrable palace of the Dictator.

"You have to be kidding me." said one of the lieutenant. "How could we not have seen it?"

"Because we are either chasing after supplies, running for our lives, or saving lives. We do not have the best schedules in looking up stuff." point out another one of his lieutenant.

"Seriously, that is an opening that we should have exploited a long time ago."

Chuck could hear a door being opened. He did not care. He was looking at Rupert. He just keep staring at the blueprint like it was going to change. Of course, he knew better. Being around John Casey, Chuck could recognize at a man planning.

"It's a trap." declare Rupert.

"Rupert!" said Jill.

"What do you want me to say? The Dictator is infamous of being the biggest liar in the entire universe. I'm sorry, doctor but I will not lead my men into a trap unless it is the last thing in the universe to do." explains Rupert.

"Rupert. You forgot something else." said Jill as she moves away from Chuck and toward the holographic blueprint.

"What's that, doctor?" ask Rupert as he place his focus on the doctor.

"The Dictator is the biggest egotistic manic in the universe. His own ego could fill this whole planet. The man thinks he is untouchable. That is why I think that Chuck's plan is perfect. That sewer is our way in. That sewer has been there since the time of the dinosaurs. The man is too deranged to put traps there. Why should he? He has an army and a forcefield that prevents teleportation. He probably thinks that only the insane and desperate would take the route."

"I am not desperate yet." said Rupert.

"That's crap and you know it. You would not even entertain this if you had another option. You know that we are running out of options. You know that this plan is a good one." counter Jill.

Chuck look at the entrance of the door. He see Jenny and the woman in the red robe. He did not know what happen, but Chuck could tell that there is some sort of weight lifted from Jenny's shoulder.

"Look. It is a sound plan. Why would you not go with Chuck's plan?" ask Jill.

"Because I don't trust him." said Rupert as he shoots an angry look at Chuck. Chuck turn his attention back at Rupert. Chuck made the universal shock look. Jill looks at the commander and shakes her head in frustration. She look at the other lieutenants. Each one of them had an expression that said it all. Everyone seems to have sided with Rupert on this decision.

"I hate to say this, but our time is slowly ending." proclaim the woman in the red robe known as the Red Queen. She starts to walk toward the center of the room.

Everyone look at the Red Queen with curiosity.

"Red Queen. When did you get here?" ask Rupert.

"I was listening to your conversation about the sewer. I hate to say this, but now is the time to act. You will have to invade the palace." The Red Queen stops. She start to scan the room and start to walk toward a man who is sitting in front of the monitor. He is tapping his fingers on his knee.

"Beg your pardon." asks Rupert.

"This one that is sitting in front of me is a mole." said the Red Queen as she places her hand on the man's shoulder. The man's eyes widen at the statement. His finger stops tapping. "I would not get up if I were you. Rupert would simply shoot your kneecaps off."

The man simply sits in fear.

"Red Queen. I know that man. I trained that man. He wouldn't…" argue Rupert as he stand up from his chair.

"He has a wife." said the Red Queen as she points the ring on the man's finger.

"What?" said Rupert as he slowly walks toward the man.

"This man has a wedding ring on. Did you notice that?" ask the Red Queen.

Rupert looks at the man with shock. He approaches the man. He looks at the man with shock. He looks at the ring as if it was some sort gun that was just fired in a crowd.

"I got married, sir." said the man as he looks down on the floor.

"When?"

"Three months ago, sir."

"Whom?"

The man's eyes start to tear up. The composure of the man simply crumbled.

"They got her hostage. Don't they?" said the Red Queen.

"She was helping to raid a convoy when the Dictator's soldiers got her. They found out who she was married to and force me to send out intel to them." explains the crumbled man.

"You gave them intel about this base?" ask Rupert even though he knew the answer.

"Yes."

"Oh god." said one of the soldiers.

"It's another reason why I am here. I am here to help you evacuate the base." declares the Red Queen.

Rupert simply slams his hand on a red button and the alarm sound.

"Take the man away. I don't want him anywhere near a communication device or to any of our sensitive information." command Rupert. He did not even look at the traitor. The man looks down on the floor in shame. Everyone can tell that the man is ashamed. He did not struggle or fight the guards as they lead him out of the room.

"Do you know how many people are on this base?" ask Rupert to the Red Queen.

"Yes."

"It would take us three days just to get the people out of here." states Rupert.

"It would if you did not have me. Getting your people out of here will not be the problem. Invading the palace is another thing entirely."

"No offense, Red Queen. But that is a suicide mission. Even if what the man said is true, we still have to contend a full army within those walls. I am not going to risk my men's live over what is a suicide mission." said Rupert.

"Rupert. I can reduce the number of soldiers within that palace in half." said the Red Queen to the general. Rupert looks at the Red Queen.

"Really?"

"Yes. I think that I just increased your odds of survival, Rupert. You must invade the palace and find out what is the Dictator's secret weapon." said the Red Queen.

"Secret weapon?" said Rupert as he comb his hair with his fingers. "Do I even I have choice in this matter?"

"Unfortunately for us, we do not have choice in the matter." said the Red Queen. Rupert looks around and shakes his head.

"You heard the Red Queen. We are invading the palace." yells out the old soldier.


	38. Chapter 38

Chuck simply observes the whole flurry of activity in the war room that is happening and wonders what is going to happen next.

The main plan is simple. The military force will be divided up in half. One half of the rebellion force will take the injured, the pregnant women, and children off to a remote region of the country that only the Red Queen knows about. According to the mysterious Red Queen, they will be safe there. The other half of the rebellion will invade the palace. This is the group that Chuck is assigned to.

Rupert did not trust Chuck. Even though Rupert has been forced into this plan, he did not placed his faith in the fact that the plan materialized from Chuck's idea. Rupert wanted Chuck along with this plan for one reason and one reason only: If this plan goes wrong, Rupert wanted Chuck to be a human shield that Rupert can used if he is fired upon.

"Ouch." There is that pain in Chuck's head. He did not know why it is there. This time, it felt like a sharp hot pencil being shoved in his brain. Chuck had to look at his hand again to be sure that he was not bleeding. The pain seems to be random now. For the life of him, Chuck did not know how he got this pain.

There is no blood. Chuck rubs the back of his head to try and eases the pain away.

"Just hang in there." Chuck jumps a little when he hears the voice beside him. Chuck look to his side to see Jenny standing there.

"Don't sneak up on a guy like that." said Chuck.

"I am on my way. Just hang in there. Do not die on me." said Jenny with a concern look on her face.

"What are you talking about?" said Chuck. He hears a rumbling behind him. Acting on instinct, he look at the direction of the rumble. He finds it was only soldiers getting ready for the "invasion." They were getting their weapons.

Chuck looks back at Jenny to find that she is not there. He scan the room to look for Jenny. Jenny is beside the Red Queen on the other side of the war room looking at the monitors.

"How did you get over there so quickly?" ask Chuck to no one in particular.

"Sir, satellites are showing a force approaching the base." yells out a woman as she looks at the monitor. Rupert, who was talking to one of his lieutenants look up.

"Do we have visual?" asks Rupert.

"Yes, sir." reply the woman to Rupert.

"Let's take a look." said Rupert. Once the picture is on the screen, everyone in the room gasp.

No one even bother making a remark. Each one of them knows what is coming. There is a platoon of Sontarians approaching the base. They see five warships in the air. On the ground, everyone in the room could see a formation of soldiers marching on the ground.

Everyone knows why there is a force "knocking on the door." It is not a force to conquer. It is not a force protecting a convoy. The force that is approaching their base is an invading force for the sole purpose of not leaving any survivors.

"That is a Sontarian army that is approaching us. How long before they get here?" ask Rupert who had hopes that he had more time before this situation occur.

"According to the figures, they will be here within fifteen minutes." yells out a woman.

"Salvador, what is our progress of getting everyone out of here." said Rupert who could feel all of his nightmares coming true.

"Sir, we need at least 30 minutes more just to get everyone gather." said a young man. Rupert could see how the Red Queen's plan is falling apart.

The Red Queen's plan is very simple. She brought two teleportation booths. One booth is programmed with coordinates out in the mountains. That is for the civilians. The second booth is programmed with coordinates with the location outside of the palace in order to attack the Dictator. Both trips are one way. No one is coming back to the base. Once everyone is off the base, the teleportation booths will be destroy in order to prevent a sneak attack from the enemy.

"Crap. We need 30 minutes to gather ourselves and we need another hour just to get a good distance away from the Sontarians." state Rupert as he put his hands in his hair. "I need more time."

Jenny looks at the screen and takes a deep breath.

"Do not worry about them. I will deal with them." said Jenny as she walks out of the room. Rupert turns and starts to follow her. The Red Queen follows both of them out of the room.

Chuck look around. He decided that he had to follow them out of the room. Curiosity is getting the better of him.

"Are you serious?" ask Rupert. "That is an army of the genetic manufactured clones whose sole purpose is to fight a war. Excuse me. The sole purpose is to win a war. What makes you think that you can deal with them?" ask Rupert

"Because they are not the only ones who were created to win a war." said Jenny as she increases her pace to leave Rupert standing in the hallway wondering what that meant.

Chuck could not help but wonder what Jenny is going to do against an army. It is something that he could not comprehend. Even with the Intersect in his mind, he did not have the ability to handle a whole army. Even though, he has imagined it, Chuck could not see John Casey handling an army. He had to run into the War Room. He had to see what Jenny is going to do next.

Chuck walks in the War Room and look at the monitor. He waits to see what the female Timelord would do. Finally, he sees Jenny walking out of the base door and into the canyon. She take one hundred steps out of the entrance of the cave and stops. She looks directly at the Sontarian ship. A small smile appears on her face. Chuck looks at her and wonders how she is keeping her calm. Even with all that he had experience, he could not help and let a little fear in.

Jenny shakes her head at the upcoming swarm of soldiers. Using her foot, Jenny start to draw a line on the ground. Everyone in the War Room holds their breath for a moment.

"I don't know where you found that girl, but she is my kind of crazy." said Rupert. Chuck look back at the old soldier.

"I didn't found her. She kind of found me." replied Chuck.

"Don't know, but I don't care. All I know is that she is going to buy us that time." said Rupert. He look around the War Room at the soldiers who had stop what they were doing and watch the video feed. "WE ALL HAVE JOBS TO DO TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF HER! SHE IS GIVING US TIME TO DO THAT! SO DO YOUR JOBS AND MAKE EVERY SECOND THAT SHE GIVES US COUNT!"

Chuck watches the feed as everyone resumes their tasks. He sees one of the ship landing and every Sontarian soldiers stop marching. Staying in perfect formation, they simply wait. He watches as one of the video feed zoom in on the ship that landed.

A soldier appears in front of the ship. He takes off of his helmet. Chuck resist in laughing. Even though the soldier looks like a potato head, Chuck knew that the soldier may have the ability to obliterates this whole base of people.

Chuck watch as the soldier walks straight to Jenny. He approaches her with his helmet off and carrying his gun. He walks right up in front of her and looks directly in her eyes. The Sontarian looks over Jenny. Chuck figures that he was assessing Jenny.

For a minute, there is stillness between the two individuals as they standing in front of each other. Chuck realizes that there is no sound on this video feed. He close his eyes and allow the flash to happen. Chuck open his eyes with the ability to read lips.

"I am General Caal, the leader of the 590th division of the Sontarian army. May I have the pleasure of knowing who I am addressing to?" states the soldier.

"General. My name is Jenny." said Jenny as she extends her hand to the General.

"Jenny. It seems like such a common name." The General simply dismiss the offer to shake Jenny's hand. Jenny looks at him and looks at her hand. She simply shrugs as if she was not offended.

"Is it? I never noticed." said Jenny. "It is not like Caal. But I like it."

"It does not matter. I am assuming that you are here to plead for the lives of your rebel friends."

"Plead?" said a confused Jenny. "I never thought of that. Would it work?"

"No." answers the General with a smile.

"I did not think so. All of you Sontarians are the same." remarks Jenny.

"Excuse me?" Jenny shakes her head as if she did something bad.

"My apologies. I did not mean to generalize the whole species. That is just plain rude."

"Apologies are not necessary. You have encountered the Sontarian race." remarks General Caal.

"It was a long time ago. They were trying to conquer a poor and defenseless race. It was almost a bloodbath if I was not there." remembers Jenny.

"You defeated an Sontarian soldier."

"No. Not a soldier. The whole platoon." corrects Jenny to the General.

General Caal take a step back. Chuck smiles. He did not expect that to come out of her mouth. Chuck imagines that the General didn't expect that.

"Congratulation. You defeated an incompetent leader. It is best to eliminate such a fool from the Sontarian race." said the General.

"Really. I thought having Blood Thirsty as a title would be held in a higher regards." comments Jenny with disappointment.

Chuck could see that General Caal is trying to keep his emotion in check. Chuck could see that there is a small shake in his left arm.

"Let's hear your terms of surrender." General Caal simply said.

"I hate to say this, but I am not here to negotiates any term of surrender. I am not here to plead for my life or any other. I am here to simply allow you and your platoon to leave with your honor intact." said Jenny.

"You think that you alone will defeat us." said General Caal as he looks over Jenny again like he is missing some sort of vital information about this situation.

"Yes. I do."

"Well. I will say that we decline this offer and will proceed with our invasion." said General Caal. He turns around and starts to walk back to his platoon.

Chuck could feel his heart stop at this sight. He loosk around and notices that no one is really paying attention to his situation. No one really know what is happening. Chuck place his attention back on the scene.

"That is too bad." said Jenny

The female Time Lord takes out a big red ball. She starts to bounce the ball on the ground. General Caal stop walking. He stands there for a moment. He turns around to see the bouncing red ball in Jenny's hand.

"What are you doing?" ask the General.

"I am figuring out which of your battleship I will destroy." comments Jenny as she look up in the sky at the flying battleships. She start to resume to bounce her ball.

"Are you being serious?"

"General. We are on a battlefield. Now is not the time for humor. I however would not object to a good joke." said Jenny.

General Caal looks at Jenny. Chuck could see his eyes simply assess Jenny.

"You are correct. We are on a battlefield. I must apologize. I am not taking you seriously." said the General as he try to keep his cool.

"But you know better."

"Yes." confirms the General.

"Why?" ask Jenny as she continue to bounce the red ball

"Because defeat can happen at anytime by anyone." said the General. Jenny stop bouncing her ball. Her smile disappears. She looks at the General.

"You are smarter than the other general." complements Jenny to the General.

"I believe that the Sontarian army is the best army in the entire galaxy. However, history shown many battles won in various matters by various individuals. Every species have the capability to be a formidable foe. What I do love is find that foe."

"No, you do not." said Jenny as she corrects the General. "You love defeating that foe."

"Yes."

"You know that defeating a formidable foe only makes you a better soldier."

"Yes." Chuck could feel a chill going up his back as he see a smile forming on the General's face

"You know that one day, you and your army will have to fight the unbeatable foe and you know that deep down that your army…your species is not ready." said Jenny. The General's smile disappear once he heard the words coming out of Jenny's mouth.

"We are not."

"I really do hate to say this… but the day is here." said Jenny.

The General simply stares at Jenny.

"One of two things is going to happen. You leave or you leave with the shame of defeat that you will feel for the rest of your days. Even after everyone forgets about this battle, you and your soldiers will feel it deep in your bones." states Jenny.

"You think that you can stop us?" ask the Sontarian General

"Yes."

"I would like to have the honor in proving you wrong."

"I will give you five minutes for you to change your mind. By then, I will know which ship to throw this ball at." said Jenny as she shows the red ball to the General.

"You will defeat us with that ball?"

"Yes." said Jenny.

"Goodbye Jenny. It will be my pleasure in destroying this rebel base." The General turns around and start to walks away from Jenny.

"Goodbye General. Your defeat will not be my pleasure." said Jenny as she watches the General walk back to his battleship as she bounces her red ball.

"She has grapefruits. That is what she has. Grapefruits." said Chuck in astonishment.

"Hey, Chuck!" yells out Rupert. Chuck snaps out of his absorption of the scene that just unfolded on the video feed.

"Red Queen wants to have some words with you." said Rupert.

Chuck looks back at the video feed. He sees Jenny simply bouncing the red ball. She had confidence in what she is doing. He should do the same. He walks away from the video feed to find the Red Queen.

* * *

Chuck watches as individuals walks into the teleportation booth. He watches as the person vanish. Chuck could not help but squeal in delight to himself.

"I am assuming that you have not seen a teleportation." said the Red Queen.

"No. This is something that I have never thought that I would see in my lifetime, but I have always wish for it." said Chuck with a goofy smile. He approaches the booth. He lightly touches it like he is afraid that he may break it. Once he touches it, he nearly squeals again.

"I assume that you would have seen it during your travels with Jenny." remarks the Red Queen as the evacuation of the rebel base continue.

"To be perfectly honest with you, I am only been with her for a few days. Even then, I am here by accident." said Chuck.

"Really?"  
"Yeah. If I had my way, I would be..." Chuck stop and had to chuckle. "I would probably still be doing the same thing."

"Sounds like you live an exciting life."

"Sometimes too much."

"So, you are here by accident." comment the Red Queen. "I can understand that."

"Really?"  
"Yes. I found myself with her father simply by accident."

"Her father!? You knew her father?"  
"Yes. I used to travel with her father."

"When you say traveled, you mean traveled to Reno or traveled to a black hole."

"I mean traveled to a place where I ran for my life because I was being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"Wow. The apple doesn't fall that far from the tree." said Chuck.  
"No. I had no doubts that it did." said the Red Queen. "It is nice to know that she is out there doing the same thing that her father does."

Both individuals continue to watch as the evacuation continues until finally there was only four people left in the building: Chuck, the Red Queen, and her guards.

"Do it now." command the Red Queen.

"Yes, mum." said the guards. Both guards walk back to her ship.

"Do you know why I have you here, Chuck?" asks the Red Queen.

"No. I was wondering about that."

"I have you here because I did not want you to watch the video feed of Jenny dealing with the Sontarians."

"Why?"  
"I am sure that you have an ideal version in your mind on what Jenny is. I rather that you did not lost that." answers the Red Queen.

Chuck looks at the Red Queen.

"I saw my future wife killed an unarmed man. He was a bad guy, but he was still unarmed. I saw a man, a man that I admired before he turn into a bad guy, killed my dad. I really don't hold people on a pedestal anymore." said Chuck.

"You are an odd duck." remarks the Red Queen. "Something like that change an individual."  
"Sarah explained everything and I trust her. I also was able to captured my dad's killer. That helps. It is also true what they say: It helps to have good friends that can help you through the dark times."

The Red Queen looks at Chuck.

"I can see why she likes you."

Chuck watch as the guards carry two boxes into Jenny's ship.

"What are they doing?"  
"They are putting gifts into Jenny's ship."  
"Why?"

"Today is the last day that I will see Jenny."

"What?"

You know that everything is deteriorating. If we do not find out what the Dictator did in the past to change everything, everything will end today. If Jenny finds out what has happened and fix it, everything will go back to normal. I unfortunately will have no memory of this happening and Jenny will never be able see me again."  
"Why not?"

"I have condition. Let us leave it like that." answers the Red Queen.

"OK."

"I want to give Jenny something for her travels. Things that I am positive that would assist her in her travels. There are a lot of bad things out in the universe and I am certain that she will encounter them head on. I just want to make sure that she is prepared."

"Oh."

"Charles. It is time for you to go."

"What about you?"

"Someone has to stay here and make sure that the booths are deactivated to the point that the enemy cannot use it against us." explains the Red Queen. "These guards are here to help me to that. They are also here to protect me if necessary.

"You do realize that there is an invading army out there."

"Yes. If things go the way they are supposed to, we will not have to worry about the army. It's the protocols that we will have to worry."

"What protocols?"

"There are protocols set up for every situation that the Dictator has set up. What is going to happen today will set off those chains of protocols. In order to have any success against these protocols, we need this command center."

"Whoa. Hold on. I think I am coming a little late to this party. Why do we need a command center?"

"Sorry. I am just used to people simply follow my orders without any question."

"Oh."

"This base will be my command center as I coordinate the various battles that will erupt. In order for the invasion onto the palace to occur, I have to ignite battles at various points on the planet."

"Oh."

"The Dictator's protocol states that if needed, part of his army at the palace can be send out to assist. That is what is going to happen. Thus reducing the number of soldiers against our invading force. In order to make sure that it works, I must coordinate everything here. That is another reason why I am staying."

"OK. What about Jenny?" ask Chuck.

"She will join you later. But she will have to take care of one problem in order for this plan to work."

"I can stay."

"No. You will be needed. Something tells me that the invading force onto the palace will need you."

"Alright. Just know that I offered to stay and help."

"Noted. Now get in there and help Rupert." commands the Red Queen.

Chuck nod as he walks into the booth. He stands very still as the Red Queen activates the booth.

"Good bye, Charles. I am so glad to have met you." said the Red Queen.

Chuck disappears, leaving the Red Queen alone in the abandoned base with her guards.


	39. Chapter 39

Chuck watches as the soldier slowly removes the grate off of the sewer drain. Another soldier walks up to assist him with the removal of the grate. Chuck looks around at the area to see if this was a trap that he set up without even knowing it. After five minutes of silence, Chuck let himself a sigh of relief.

The invading force were teleported about five minutes away from the palace. The location is in an abandoned area where no one would go unless he or she had a strong desire to watch waste come out a drain . Deserted is the accurate word to describe this place. The ground is dried up. There are no trees in the area. What little nutrient the ground is able to give to the vegetation is from the waste that is coming from the sewer that is connected to the palace. The good news, the only news, is the fact that the current situation is not a trap.

The sewer is obviously underneath the palace. What Chuck did not like about it is the fact that the palace is located on a plateau. There will be some climbing involved in this invasion. The question is how much.

Chuck looks at the small force of thirty men that is going to invade the palace. It did not take a genius to know that these individuals were the people that Rupert trusted. Chuck figures that each one will follow Rupert's order to the letter. Each one of them is equipped to take out anyone that gets in their way. Unfortunately, each soldiers have the concern look on their face. No one likes the thought of going into the palace especially through the dark sewer. Chuck can tell that each one have that dark feeling in their stomach.

Chuck hate to think about it, but he had it too. He wants to ignore it, but a voice in his head told him not too.

"Chuck. You never ever ignore your gut feelings. Once you are out in the field, it is the only thing that you can trust. If you are lucky, you can trust your team, but in the end, it is you against the enemy. All you will have is your skill, your instinct, and luck. You have to trust them. I am saying this to you because that is something that you have that most people don't have. Your gut. It never seems to steer you wrong." said John in one of those rare teaching moments that Chuck had with him.

Chuck starts to look around in the area. Something is wrong. He just wish he knew what it was. Right now, he is really wishing that Jenny was here.

According to the charts that Jill had on the palace's plans, the sewer drain connects right to the center of the palace. The charts states that there is an armory right next to their propose entrance. Chuck wonders about that. Why put an armory next to a possible weak point? His train of thought got shaken when he hear the grate slam onto the dry ground.

Rupert walks up to the grate and look inside the dark entrance.

"It's a trap." said Rupert out loud. One of his lieutenants walk up to him and look at the sew drain. "It screams a trap."

"What do you propose to do? It is not like we can simply walk up to the palace and knock on the door." said a soldier.

"It is a better idea then using this route. At least I know what I am getting into." answers Rupert.

According to Jill's intel, the front door option is one way trip to death. There was several ways to die. There was the force field that randomly goes off and on. There was never a pattern so no one really know when to walk in. However, there is one thing certain about the force field. It does come on when someone tries to teleport in the palace. Many attempts had result in people's atoms being rearranged in hideous fashion. If by luck, someone is able to cross the force field, there is still the soldiers that will kill on sight. It is never the same soldier. It could be a Dalek, a Cyber-man, or even the Dictator himself. Death is certain through the front door.

"For all I know, there are traps all over in that drain." comments Rupert as he back away from the drain.

"Rupert, stop resisting this plan. The Red Queen even gave her blessing to this plan." said Jill. "This is our best option."

Jill had her pick of which forces she could go with. In the end, she picked the invading force for one reason: She wanted to see this to the end.

An explosion interrupts everyone's thought. Everyone looks up at the sky to see a small ball of fire in the sky. While the explosion did not mean much by itself, a series of explosion that follows, changes what anyone thought. The blue peaceful sky changes into a chaotic orange.

"What the heck is that?" ask one of the soldier.

"That is the Red Queen's plan." answers Rupert. He lets out a big sigh of worry out of his lungs. Chuck could see that there is a pressure that is building up in the man. "Crap! She really is going for it."

Chuck knew what Rupert meant. The Red Queen was going to distract the Dictator's force while this group attack the Dictator. Chuck could see the hesitation on the man's face. He really did not want to go in the sewer grate. He could not blame him.

In Chuck's mind, Chuck could see John Casey prepping for a mission. He can see John looking through maps and blueprints. He did not look at them once. John Casey would look at them several times. John Casey did not fly the seat of his pants unless he had to. He like things to be plan out. Chuck could see that Rupert had that same mentality. This situation is riding on too much improvisation.

"I'll do it." said Chuck as he start to walks into the drain. While Chuck did not mind the planning, Chuck had flown by the seat of his pant. He had made things up at the moment. If he had to be honest, it is what he did best. "I'll go in the sewer."

"What?" ask Rupert as he watch Chuck approach the dark sewer drain.

"I'll go in first. If there are any traps, I know that I will set them off." said Chuck as he walks into the drain, hoping that he sound confidently or at least cool.

"Seriously?" ask Rupert as if he wanted some reassurance that Chuck was not going to back down. .

"Yep." said Chuck as he let the darkness of the sewer to envelop him. After a few feet of walking to the sewer, Chuck realize something. "Oh, it is really dark in here."

He keeps walking into the drain. Chuck did his big cool moment. No sense in going back. He turns back to see the tiny light of his entrance.

"OK. Let's think before we keep going." said Chuck as he stop walking. "A plan would maybe actually be a good idea."

Chuck close his eyes to think. Chuck take a deep breath. He breath in and out and try to focus. Then he could see it. He smile. Chuck may have the Intersect in his mind, but he had something that beats that. He had a very good memory.

It is something that his sister hated. He would always memorizes something just to annoy his sister. It could have been something she said to a boy to a gross fact that he knew that his sister would be gross out by. He smiles as he open his eyes.

That smile disappear when he finds himself in the middle of Jenny's ship.

"OK. This is different." said Chuck as he looks around the ship to get his bearings.

Jenny is flying her ship past a flaming ship. Chuck could see the frustration on her face. Everything is not working like she hoped for. While it is a small thing, Chuck could see her left eyebrow is slightly higher than the right eyebrow. Just the short time that he had spent with her, Chuck found out that this was her way of thinking really hard.

Chuck slowly gets closer to the co pilot seat to gets a closer look at what is happening. What he see almost make him wish that he did not open his eyes.

Chuck recognize the ships that are attacking Jenny. It was the Daleks' fleet that is flying in Earth's orbit. He looks at Jenny. This is Jenny's part of the Red Queen's plan.

Jenny had to be the distraction to the Daleks during the palace invasion. This is a simple dogfight. Chuck sees a barrage of laser flying past Jenny. As a Dalek ship appears in front of her, Jenny slams a red button on the ship's console. Her ship stops instantly and drops parallel of the Dalek ship. Once Jenny's ship is underneath the Dalek ship, Jenny hits the red button again. Her ship races underneath the ship.

Jenny looks past Chuck and stares at the wooden box on the co pilot chair for a millisecond. Chuck turn to look at the box. He recognizes it. It is the box that the Red Queen had put in Jenny's ship. Jenny places her focus back onto the task at hand. Chuck, on the other hand, continue to stares at the box. The wooden box is simply lying on the console begging to be open. If he was here, Chuck would open it. Once he realize on the obscurity of the statement, Chuck reaches for the box. When his hand phase through the box, Chuck wonders what is going on with him. As the firefight continues, the box would move. As it moved, it made a noise. When it made a noise, Jenny could not help but look at it. At this moment, Chuck wants to open the box more then figures out how he got onto the ship.

With a quickness that Chuck has never seen, Jenny opens the box and places her focus back on the dogfight that she is in.

Without warning a holographic image of a woman wearing a red robe appears. She slowly removes the hood that conceal her identity. While it did disappoint Chuck a bit when he realizes that he did not know who it was, he could see a smile emerging on Jenny's face. She did know who the Red Queen

"That is unexpected. You are filled with surpises, Donna." said Jenny as she places her focus back on the dogfight.

In front of her, she sees several guns emerging from the ship. Jenny did not have to guess on what they are aiming at.

"Hello Jenny." Said the holographic Donna.

As the guns fire the laser beams, Jenny move her ship out of the lasers' paths. What the lasers finds is another Dalek ship, which is not prepared for the laser onslaught.

"If we are lucky, you have rescued the universe and are eating some sort of sweet treat." said Donna. "If you are like your father, you are watching this message while avoiding enemy fire."

Jenny smiles at the statement.

"You can guess which one of those statements I figured is happening. I will keep this short so that you can save time and space." continues Donna as Jenny start to avoiding a exploding Dalek ship.

"When you restore everything, my memory of this timeline will be gone. I will not remember meeting you. I will not remember anything that has happened. If you look for me, the consequence would be dire. Please. Do not look for me. That being said, I want to say that I am proud of what you became. I see everything that your father is within you. I also can see that you will be better than he is. I hope with all of my heart that your father gets to see you at your best."

"But your father has enemies that want him dead. They will do anything to destroy him. If they ever find out about you, they will come after you. They will use you against him and I can not have that happen to either of you.

"Within this box is a bio damper ring. Your father gave me one in hopes that it would protect me. Unfortunately it did not work because he overlooked something. Unlike that ring, this ring will work. It will mask your true nature from any bio scanner in existence. No one will know that you are a Time Lord. Not even your father. He will forever think that he is the last Time Lord. For now, it is the best way to protect the two of you."

Jenny looks straight at the holographic image of Donna. She could see the sadness in her eyes.

"I know that you do not need any protection, but your father's enemies are devious. I rather that you at least have the element of surprise on your side. This is a way for me to give that to you." said the holographic image of a sad Donna.

"I also placed within this box a map. This map will show you a way to a junkyard. After seeing what you did to your ship, I know that this map is the best gift that I can give you. It is not found in any normal places. Getting there will be hard. Getting back to our universe will be harder. If you find this place, you will be able to build yourself a proper ship. If you are clever enough, you may even build yourself a TARDIS."

Jenny smile at the thought of having her own TARDIS.

"Finally, I can give you one last thing. Your father likes to call himself John Smith. If there is any name that screams fake, John Smith screams it. We cannot have that for you. I am giving you my last name. I want you have it: Noble."

"Jenny Noble." said Jenny. "Jenny Noble. Ms. Noble. Jenny Noble."

"I like the name. It does not sound fake. It sounds like a real person. It sounds like my sister or daughter if I had one. I want you to have it." continues the holographic friend.

Jenny smiles as she pilots the ship.

"That is all I have for you. This may be the last time I see you, but I am glad that I did. Now. Go. Be amazing. Be fantastic." said Donna.

Jenny looks at the image as it flickers away. Jenny smiles. She places her full focus back on the dogfight.

"Good bye, Donna." said Jenny as she fly her ship straight at a Dalek ship. "By the way, you may want to close your eyes for this part, Chuck."

Without questioning or missing a beat, Chuck closes his eyes.

When he opens his eyes again, he finds himself back in the dark sewer.

"OK. That is weird." said Chuck to himself.

He closes his eyes and reopen them back up. He did it again when he finds himself still in the dark sewer as opposed to being in Jenny's ship.

After the sixth try, Chuck decides to do the sensible approach: Sticks to the mission on hand and figures out the weird stuff later. He closes his eyes and focus on the original purpose of closing his eyes: The map of the sewers. Chuck memorizes the map of the sewers when he saw it in Jill's documents about the Dictator. Once he could see the map in his mind, he take several step toward the sewer's wall on his right. He extend his hand and feel the slimey wall.

Even with the gross feeling, Chuck smiles as he opens up his eyes. He had his map in his mind and a way to get into the palace without getting lost. It is not the best plan, but it is definitely not a bad one.

"Wait up." said a familiar female voice. Chuck could not help but jump a little.

"Jill?" answer Chuck, hoping that he did not imagine the voice.

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?" asks Chuck.

"I am following you." answers Jill.

"Why?"

"No one else wanted to."

"All of those guys with the big guns did not want to walk into this pitch dark smelly sewer drain." said Chuck. "I can't' imagine why."

"I know." answers the voice of Jill. "I think that Rupert is afraid of the dark."

"Really."

"Do you know that he has a nite light in his room?"

"No." answers Chuck. "He strikes me as a guy that would have a knife under his pillow."

"He has that." replys Jill.

"How would you know?"

"That is none of your business." answers Jill.

"Sorry." said Chuck to Jill.

"Apology accepted."

"Now that you are here. I just thought of something."

"How are we going to get back to the others?" said Jill to Chuck.

"Yeah."

"You are lucky that I am not like you. I planned for this." said Jill. Chuck could hear a crackle. A light lit up the dark sewer line. It is a long cylinder rod that is in Jill's hand. The light is a neon green. Jill slams the rod on the mucky wall of the sewer. Chuck watches as she let go of the rod to show that the rod is permanent stuck onto the sewer.

"Ok. That is slightly gross." comments Chuck as he watch the rod, hoping that it fall off. After a minute, he realize that it is not moving because of the muck on the wall. Jill look at the rods when she realizes what he is commenting on. She look at the rod.

"Tell me about it. I am now wondering if it is not better if we don't do this in the dark."

"No. It is a good strategy. It can help lead the way while we find our way through."

"Or set off the traps."

"I was really trying not to think about that."

"Sorry."

"No problem." said Chuck as he looks at the pathway that is in front of him. It is dark and quiet. There could be many traps in front of him and he would not see it coming.

"How many of those do you have?" ask Chuck.

"Plenty." answers Jill.

"Well, light another one up and let's get this over with." said Chuck as he starts to lead Jill into the dark sewer.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Chuck starts to wonder if he is losing his mind. It did worry him a bit now. These blackout...that is not be the right word for it. He knows that these "incidents" are not blackouts. Chuck starts to move his fingers in a tapping fashion against his leg. Vision. That is the better word for it. Hallucinations. That is a word that Chuck did not want to use. Vision or hallucination, it did not matter. Chuck could feel himself starting to freak out.

He did not want to have another one at an inappropriate time. Knowing his luck, it would happen during a fight or in a middle of a flash. It is not like he is in a good environment to begin with to have them.

Chuck looks around at the area. The palace seems disturbingly quiet and empty. The palace walls are painted bright white. There are four paintings on the wall, which Chuck recognized from various art museum & various mission files. It is a better scenery compared to the sewer.

It did not take long for Chuck and Jill to get through the sewer. They did not encountered any traps or mysterious creatures that would devour people. The ladder leading out of the sewer was not bobby trapped. As he moved the metal cover of the manhole, Chuck thought for sure that there would be guards, whose sole purpose was to watch over the sewer. The quiet palace was his answer. He still expected an ambush as he moved the cover aside and got out. Once he felt the area was secured, Chuck gave the all clear signal to Jill. She returned back to the other rebels to give them the all clear to proceed with the invasion.

"Hey."

Chuck looks down at the manhole. He see Rupert giving him a look. Chuck bends down and lends his hand. Rupert simply grabs it and lift himself out of the sewer.

"Pay attention." commands Rupert to Chuck. "We are in a middle of an invasion."

Rupert looks around the area. The rebel forces are all checking their weapons to be sure that they are in a working order. A small smile forms on his face.

"Merope" yells out Rupert. Chuck's attention snaps to the name. He looks around and notices a woman covered from head to toe in black. Not a single portion of her body is shown. Her eyes is covered with dark goggles. She is wearing body armor. She reminded Chuck of a female version of Snake Eyes in his first version. He could not help but wonder who is Merope.

"Yes, sir." said the woman called Merope.

"Tell me that is a monitor over there in the wall." said Rupert. At the entry of the hallway, there is a small computer pad mounted on the wall.

"Yes, sir. I was about to hack into the palace's mainframe." answers Merope.

"Good. We need to know what is happening. We have been in the sewer for too long. I like to know if we are going to die in five minutes or five seconds." commands Rupert as he continues his vigilance.

"Yes, sir."

Chuck watches the woman walks to the wall where the monitor is at. She punches a hole into the wall. She takes out his hand and look inside. She takes out a cord out of her pocket and insert into the hole. Chuck could tell that she just plug into an outlet of a CPU.

He is paying so much attention to Merope that he did not hear Jill approaches him.

"Are you alright?" ask Jill.

"Who's Merope?" ask Chuck. Jill looks at the woman as she starts to type on a keyboard on her gauntlet, which Chuck recognizes.

"Oh. That is Rupert's secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?"

"Honestly. No one really know who she is. The thing that we know is that she is the technical support for Rupert. She seems to simply appear when Rupert needs help. I cannot remember a time when I have seen the woman socialize with anyone in the unit. But she is always on some mission for Rupert."

"Oh."

"Yep. The woman has a lot of rumors among the unit. There is a rumor that the person right now is the second person to carry the name. The first one was killed by a Cyberman after rescuing her family. That could be her daughter."

"Oh." answers Chuck.

"Yep. Of course there is another rumor that she was rescued before the Cyberman conversation. Rumors has it that she is part woman and part machine."

"How many rumors are there?" asks Chuck as he wonders who the woman underneath the suit.

"Would you believe 109 rumors?" Chuck looks at Jill. She is smiling.

"Wow"

"Don't be too impressed. There is already a rumor about you." said Jill with a mischievous grin.

"What? I have not even been here that long." said Chuck. He looks around the unit and could not figure out which one would start the rumor. They barely acknowledged him, even after he volunteered to be the first one in the sewer. "What is it?"  
"You are actually a girl." answers Jill with a smile. Chuck simply stares at Jill with disbelief. "You have a high pitched voice sometimes."  
"Great. It couldn't be that I'm a ninja." said Chuck.

"Who would believe that?" said Jill. Chuck looks at her and see that she has a small smile on her face. He recognizes that look. She is simply messing with him. Chuck had to chuckle at that.

"Sir." answers Merope.

"Yeah." said Rupert as he walks over to Merope.

"I am in their system & no one is being quiet."  
"Spill." commands Rupert.  
"You know that Sontaran invasion at the base."

"Yeah."

"Well I don't know what happened, but it had to be good because the Sontarans left the planet."

"What?" Everyone stop what they were doing. They even seem to hold their breath as if they figured their breaths would change everything.

"That girl. I don't know what she did, but she send them out of this planet. According to the palace's radars, the Sontarans' ships are at the rings of Saturn. And it gets better."

"Stop pausing and just tell us already." said Rupert with some caution in his voice.

"There are only five Daleks in the palace at this moment. The rest of them are currently in a dogfight out in space right now. They are dealing with a single spaceship out there. Looks like they are losing. Here is the funny part. According to the chatter, the Daleks are the only ones who have fired at the lone ship. That ship has not return fire. It is simply outmaneuver them. They are getting beat by their own weapons."

"Holy crap." said Rupert. Chuck already knew this. He saw Jenny fighting the Dalek. How he is getting these visions is something he cannot explain. It is a small comfort that it is vision, not hallucinations that he had to worry about now.

"According to the chatter to the palace, there are multiple battles erupting across the world." continues Orion. "Looks like the Red Queen is delivering. The Dictator's forces are requesting back up and they are getting it. Several ships are leaving the palace to assist them. Outcome is uncertain right now, but we are getting the palace that is severely understaffed in security." said Merope.

"That is some good news."

"Well, here is the bad news. All of those palace's floorplans we have are null and void. Looks like the Dictator decided to remodel the place several times throughout the years. Nothing is the same. We are going in blind." said Merope.

"Unplug yourself before the palace's defense system detect you." commands Rupert. He turns to his unit. Each one of his soldiers seems to have hope back on their faces. "You heard Merope. This is our only chance for us to get this jackass. We go in and get the Dictator. Be prepared for anything."

Every soldier checks their weapon for one last time. Chuck realize that he did not have a weapon. He remembers from the plans that there is an armory. He start looking for the door to the room. He sees one at the other end of the hallway. Chuck start to approaches it when he feels a hand place on his shoulder.

"Where you think you are going?" said Rupert.

"I forgot a gun. Figure that I would borrow one from the armory." answers Chuck.

"Don't bother. It is a trap."

"What?"

"Yeah. What kind of idiot places an armory by a security risk?" ask Rupert.

"Unless it is a trap." said Chuck as he shakes his head in disbelief. Chuck backs away from the door as the statement sinks in his mind. "I can't believe that I almost fell for it."

"You are not such a dumbass after all." said Rupert. "Here."  
Chuck looks to see that Rupert is handing him three grandles.

"Smoke grandles." said Rupert as he start to walk away from Chuck. "I still don't trust you."

"Thanks." said Chuck. He takes the three grandles and places them in his pockets. Rupert walks toward the front of his unit.

"Alright. No more stalling. Merope. Find a place to hide and patch back in the palace mainframe. I want updates on where those Daleks are located and any other surprises. Find me the Dictator while you are at it."  
"Yes, sir." reply the unknown woman. She runs down the hall away from the unit.  
"I want two sharpshooters in the back and in the front. I don't want any surprises getting us from behind. My guards will cover the doctor. If she dies, our chances of survival just drop down to zero. We go in as a group. No separation from the group. You see something. Call it out. Do I make myself clear?"  
"Yes, sir." yells out the unit.

"Let's move." With that, the unit start to walk down the hall.

Chuck find himself being push toward Jill. He notices that he is surrounded by the guards. He already know why. Chuck is still not being trusted. Chuck decided that it is best for him to simply watch as this plays out.

For a half hour, they walks down the hallway. Ever so often, Rupert would contact Merope for updates or any information. Chuck could not hear anything that is said, but assumes it is decent news. After all, they are still walking down the hallway.

The hallway is peculiar. No one mention it or even notices. Chuck notices it after five minutes. There is no intersection to other hallways. There is no doors to room in his hallway. The hallway did have more paintings of the Dictator. Chuck is starting to wishing for a bottle of Jack Daniels to erase those images out of his head.

Chuck also could feel it: that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He could not ignore it any longer. Whatever it is, it is bad. He just did not know what. At least the vision is not occurring.

"What the hell?" said someone out in front.

Everyone places their focus back in front. The hallway is coming to an end. There is an opening. As they continue to walk out of the hallway, everyone finds themselves in a circular courtyard filled with a garden. There are five trees and a stone bench. Chuck looks up to see that the ceiling is not there. He, instead, see the sky once more.

Chuck starts to scan for another exit. He did not even have to have John Casey screaming at him that this is a trap. The only possible exit is the balcony. The only problem is the fact that it is a few stories above the ground.

"Was this in the plans?" asks Chuck.

"No." answers Jill.

"Stay alert everyone." yells out Rupert. "Merope. Can you hear me?"

Silence envelop the whole group.

"Merope" yells Rupert louder into his comm.

"You know that she is dead." said a voice. Everyone turns to the direction of the voice. The balcony is not empty now. The man called the Dictator aka Major Tom stands there, looking down at the unit.

Chuck looks at the man. Major Tom barely looks like himself. Major Tom is wearing an outfit that looks like he got it from a dictator surplus store. The outfit is not the thing that changed. It is the man. Chuck could still see the man that attacked him in the safehouse in his mind. The man was fit. The man looked like a younger John Casey with wild eyes. What Chuck see standing on the balcony is a skinny man that look like he is suffering from a disease that was eating from the inside out. Major Tom still had the wild eyes. It is the only reason that Chuck recognize him. Whatever happened here in this place did not suit the man.

"Wow. I really did not expect it to take so long for someone to walk into my trap." said Major Tom with a smile.

A booming sound is heard from behind the rebel force. Everyone looks back to see that their entrance to the garden is slammed shut by a metal door.

"Time must be desperate if you thought that an invasion to my palace was a good idea." said Major Tom. "The Red Queen must hate you if she send you here."

"I am here to put a bullet in your head." yells out Rupert as his hand grabs his weapon.

"None of your weapons would even hit me. I have a force field surrounding me." said Major Tom with a smile as he watch Rupert moves his hand away from his weapon. "Smart man. You know that whatever you fire at me will simply be return back to you. Now, here is my favorite part: telling you what you did wrong."

Chuck scan the area. No exits, but the trees can provide cover. He could not see another way out unless they could fly out. Even then, Chuck did not trust that open sky view. There is really one true exit and a metal door is blocking their way out.

"Hey." whispers Chuck to one of the guard.

"What?" said the bigger than life guard that has been walking with Jill and Chuck.

"Tell me you have something to take that door out." asks Chuck. Let everyone else place their focus on the rants of the mad man. Chuck can at least try to get the right people to focus on creating an exit plan.

"I think I do. But I never would be able to get it set up." said the frightened guard as he force himself to look at Chuck.

"What? That does not make any sense."

"The Dictator is known to be the best shot in the universe. It has been told that he kill a fly from 500 feet. I would be dead before I even activate the timer." said the frightened man.

"He's right, Chuck." confirms Jill. Chuck look at them. Chuck looks at every rebel that is part of this invasion. They have fought monsters and aliens, something that he had no experience in. These rebels did not flinched at that. Now that Major Tom is here, they had genuine fear in their hearts.

Chuck takes another look at the man. Major Tom did not look frightening. Chuck wonders if anything that the rebels had heard were actually facts or propaganda that Major Tom spread.

Chuck smiles.

"If I can give you a distraction, can you get that door to disappear. Right now we are trapped & good as dead." asks Chuck. The man looks at Chuck.

"Yes, sir." said the bodyguard. It is the first time anyone has shown Chuck any respect in this reality.

"Good. How much time you need?" asks Chuck.

"Give me two minutes and that door is gone." said the man as he slowly approaches the door.

Chuck turns to Jill.

"Jill, I need more smoke grenades." said Chuck. Jill looks at him.

"You have a plan." ask Jill.

"Yeah, blow the door away."

"With smoke grenades?"

"No, but I still need them."

"Lucky for you, I got seven more. No one else took them. I figure that we may need them." said Jill.

"Good, because we do." Jill hands the grenades to Chuck. He places his attention back on Major Tom. The man is still talking. Chuck starts to whisper in a rebel's ear about his plan. The rebel looks at Chuck and nod. He then whispers in the ear of the person next to him. Within a minute, each rebel had the plan,

Chuck wish he had a better plan. It was the only plan he had and Chuck did not have time to formulate another one.

"...that is what I have offered you. I have offered you nothing but a life." lies Major Tom.

"That is horse crap and you know it." answers Rupert who looks like he is barely holding it together. There is a little shake in his right hand.

"You're right. I just wanted to see how much of my b.s. you would believe. I am just simply a mean old man who just wanted to get rid of his girlfriend." said Major Tom with a smile. "Everyone has to pay the price for her being her."

"Wait?" said Rupert. "This is about a girl."

"Of course. What else can it be?"

"You are telling me that this is all about a girl. That you enslaved an entirely galaxy because of a woman." asks a disbelief Rupert.

"Yes."

"You are messed up." said Rupert, who cannot get rid of the disbelief.

"Yeah, he really is." yells out Chuck. Chuck take a deep breath. Major Tom looks at Chuck. Chuck stares down the crazed man. Major Tom had a look of puzzlement. He simply stares at Chuck.

Rupert looks at Major Tom. He then looks at Chuck. Rupert realize that he had miss something while Major Tom has been rambling. All of his men had scattered away from Chuck. He see one of his men by the door watching the action with a device in his hand. Rupert steps away from Chuck.

"No." said Major Tom.

Chuck simply stand there.

"No." said Major Tom.

Rupert could see the smoke grenades in Chuck's hand.

"No, it can't be." said Major Tom.

Rupert look at the closed door. His man has already place the device on the door. Rupert recognized it and realize why everyone is away from Chuck, but more importantly why they were away from the door.

"You can't be alive." said Major Tom as he simply stare at Chuck.

"Standing right here." said Chuck at the mad man.

"No. You can't be. If you were here, it means..." Chuck could tell that the man's mind is racing with the thought that he did not want to have. "It can't be you."

"You tried to kill me." state Chuck.

"No."

"You need proof. Fine. You came back in time to try to kill a girl at the Buymore carrying a sword with you. I asked you how you did not get noticed. You tried to kill her at my store. I stop you. Barely. But I did. You placed a Dalek bomb on the roof of my store. I guess what I am saying is that you tried to kill Jenny and I stop you. I don't know what you did to make everything so screwy, but I am going to stop you again and put things right." said Chuck. He keeps his eyes to Major Tom.

"It is you. The stupid little man." hisses Major Tom as the shocked look on his face is slowly being replaced. "The stupid little man that wouldn't let me kill her. The stupid little man that thwarted my efforts in killing her."

Rupert looks away from the man whose face is being consumed with anger and frustration. Rupert looks at his man as he set the detonator on. He looks back at the Dictator. He is so focus on Chuck that he did not even notices what is going on.

"You are alive." said Major Tom with such venom that Rupert could see it coming out of his mouth. "If you are alive, that means one thing..."

"Jenny is alive with all of her memories intact.." said Chuck in a defiant manner. Chuck could see Major Tom's body shakes from this distance. He could see the anger simply wanting to erupt in Major Tom. He has seen that look only in Scarface. Time to make him more angry. "Who do you thinks is beating the Daleks right now?"

Major Tom's eyes widen with the realization.

Chuck throws the smoke grenades up in the air. The grenades releases a dark blue smoke. The smoke is so thick that it almost became a barrier. Chuck start to run away from the door.

The last thing Chuck could hears before the door blows off its hinges is Major Tom screaming in anger.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Chaos simply erupts with the explosion of the big metal door. The blast launches the door towards the hallway. The explosion also adds another level of smoke into the courtyard. The rebels slowly get up from the floor.

They can hear Major Tom screams in madness. While it was incomprehensible gibberish, they can hear the anger and venom in the tone of his voice. Once the rebels see a laser blast piercing the smoke and hitting the floor, they did not hesitate in running out of the courtyard.

Chuck slowly gets up from the floor. He hated to admit it, but he blacked out for a moment. He looks around the chaos and smiles at the fact that his half baked plan worked. Everyone is running out of the courtyard and away from Major Tom.

He savors the moment before he runs out of the courtyard and into the hallway. Unfortunately, his joy disappears. What he encounter was not a single hallway, but several different hallways splintering off into different direction.

"Great." said Chuck. Chuck could see from a distance the rebel forces are running into different hallways, thus violating Rupert's command of sticking together. No one did not want to stop moving or figure out how the one hallway became several hallways. Chuck could not blame them. Major Tom is angry and probably is not going to take any prisoners. Chuck simply picks a hallway and runs. As he continue his escape, a thought pop into his head.

Chuck did not like his thought. If this thought is correct, it explains so much. His scary thought was that the palace is the trap.

It would explains why there is several new hallway when there was once one hallway. It explains why there is a fake armory at an obvious security hole. It explains how Merope may have been caught. It explains why there are fake floor plans floating around for everyone to see. Major Tom wanted someone to come. Getting out of the palace may not have been an option by design.

Chuck takes a deep breath as he runs. With time being a factor for the whole universe, Chuck never thought about getting out of the palace. Stopping Major Tom is the only option. It may be the only option to save everyone.

Chuck slows down his run. He sees a lying body on the floor. As he approaches the body, Chuck could see who it is.

"Jill!" He runs up to her and bend down to get a closer look at the body. He look for a pulse and let out a sigh of relief when he could feel one. One less thing to worry about.

Until he realize something.

"I did this before." Chuck stands up. He steps away from Jill. He looks down at the unconscious woman. "Oh boy."

He looks around to see the hallway slowly melting away into darkness.

* * *

Chuck opens his eyes. He could feel his head pounding. His vision is slowly adjusting to the light of the room. His muscles feels sore. Overall, Chuck is pretty sure that he look as good as he feels at this moment. At least, he remembers now what had happened in the hallway.

The moment he bended down to check up on Jill, he got injected with something, thus causing him to blackout. He found himself sitting in a chair tied up. He remembered that the guy strapping him in a chair and machines. He remember something about being called Ugly, even though he is wearing a suit. Chuck could remember a rambling about last of his kind and his species being dead. Chuck also remember being drugged and how it would hurt.

It made sense why he had a headache. The drugs gave him the headaches. It might explains for the visions. Chuck put all thoughts away and focus on the here and now.

He looks around and see that no one is in the room with him. There are various machines monitoring his vital signs. Chuck decided to wait for a few minutes.

After he is satisfied that no one is really watching him or coming to check up on his condition, Chuck closes his eyes and let in a flash. Whoever put the skills of an escapes artist in the Intersect is definitely getting a Christmas gift this year.

Once he take the restraint off, Chuck starts to unplug himself out of the machine. The machines let out an annoying steady beep. He slowly get up from the chair. A wave of nausea sneak up on him. Chuck grabs on to the chair to steady himself. He takes several deep breaths. Once he felt somewhat better, he walks over to the machine and turns them off.

Chuck looks for something to defend himself. Sooner or later, someone will check on Chuck. He sees a mop with a metal handle. Chuck grabs the mop and notices the red stains on the head of the mop. Chuck take another look at the room and then the mop.

"Great, I am being held captive by Doctor Frankenstein." said Chuck as he walks up to the door. He slowly turns the door knob and opens the door. Chuck sticks the head of the mop out hoping that it did not get shot at. He waves the mop. Once satisfied, Chuck places the mop against the wall and slowly peeks outside. He looks down the abandoned hallway. Chuck could see a series of doors down the hallway. Chuck turns toward the other direction to see that the other end of the hallway is empty and filled with doors. He takes the mop and slowly walks out of the room. With no map or guide, Chuck wonders where he could go now.

A woman screaming grabs Chuck's attention. He start to approaches where the screaming could be originating from. The screaming simply got louder in another room. Chuck place his ears up against the door.

"Your rebels are simply ruining everything." said a very familiar voice. "This invasion is simply moving my timetable up, which I do not appreciate. If it was not for the fact that you and your friend interested me, I would have already killed you."  
"Why haven't you?" asks a female voice that Chuck recognizes as being Jill.

"Simple. I want to be sure that you were not Jenny." replies Ugly.

"I have no idea who that is."

"It seems no one did until today. Odd, isn't it?"  
"Honestly, I just find it odd that I am strapped in this chair without you buying me dinner first." said Jill. Chuck smiles.

"Humor, how quaint." said Ugly.  
Chuck slowly turns the doorknob, hoping that it did not make any noise.

"You should enjoy it while you have it. You see this syringe."

Chuck slowly opens up the door. He see that the man called Ugly has his back toward him and is facing Jill, who is strapped in a chair.

Jill did not look so good now. There is a cut on her forehead with blood going down the left side of her face. There is some bruises on her face. Jill has her entire focus on Ugly and did not seem to notices Chuck. Chuck could see a syringe in Ugly's left hand.

"This syringe contains a cocktail that will make you remember everything. It will allow me to find out what you know about this woman. It will allow me to find out why that boy and girl is so important to the Dictator." explains Ugly.

Chuck slowly approach Ugly from behind.

"I don't have memory lost."

"That is too bad. While it restores memory on someone who has lost them, it tends to kill someone who is not suffering from amnesia." said Ugly. Chuck could sense a smile on the alien's face. He lifts the mop handle in the air.

Chuck swings the metal handle and hit Ugly from behind. Ugly simply collapsed unconscious. Jill looks at Ugly with a surprised face. She look up and see Chuck.

"Where have you been?" asks Jill with a smile on her face.  
"Knocked out and suffering from that shot." answers Chuck.  
"Tell me you lost your memory."  
"Yeah. Lucky me." said Chuck as he puts down his mop and starts to get the straps off of Jill.

"You have no idea. That is "Ugly." At least that is what the Dictator calls him. He is some sort of scientist. He has done horrible things to so many individuals; alien and human." said Jill as she gets up from the chair.

Jill looks down at the alien and see the syringe. She picks it up and slam it in the alien's arm, and injects the cocktail in the alien's body.

"Whoa!" said Chuck.

"He deserved it." said Jill as she toss the syringe off to one side.

"I know but we could have gotten some information from him." points out Chuck.

"Like what?"

"How to get out of the palace would be one." answers Chuck. Jill could not hide her disappointed look.  
"Oh."

"Yeah. Not to mention how we could find everyone else."

"Wait?" said Jill. "I remember that there is a security room on this hallway."

"How?"  
"I was passing in and out while he dragged us in the rooms. I remember seeing it. At least I hope I saw one." said Jill as she try to remember what she saw.

"Do you know which room?"  
"No."

"Ok. Let's go then. Because there are a lot of doors in this hallway and I don't want to get caught again." said Chuck as he walks out of the room. Jill looks back at Ugly. She kicks the alien in what she hope is his stomach. She walks out of the room, hoping to never see the alien again.

Chuck and Jill start opening doors. Jill took one side of the hallway while Chuck took the other side.

"Nope. that is not it." said Chuck.

"Not this one." said Jill.

"That is definitely not it."  
"I have no idea what that is and don't want to know."

After a few minutes of opening doors that they did not want to open, but had to, Jill opens a door. What she finds, made her smile.

"Found it."

Chuck slams the door that he opened and runs toward Jill. Jill politely let Chuck in. Chuck look around and see a desk with a keyboard and several monitors. There is a blue ball that is located beside the keyboard. He sees various cabinets and desks off to the side. He approaches the computer station. He looks at the monitor hoping to see at least a home page. Chuck looks at the keyboard and thank any deity that was listening to him that it is a standard english keyboard. He press a key.

Jill walks up behind him.

Chuck smiles as he saw one of the monitor shows a home page. He notices that it is not password secured, which Chuck considers odd. Chuck place his focus back on the tasks on hand

He needs to find a way out of the palace.

Chuck start to check on the files and finds the floor plans of the palace. He pull up the map and look at the floor plans. His smile goes away when Chuck realize what he is actually looking at.

"Not good." said Chuck.

"That can't be right." said Jill as she see what Chuck sees.

"This palace is physically changing its own floorplan."

"I remember the floor plan that we got. It looks nothing like this. How and why is my question." ask Jill.

"My guess is because we are here. I bets you that it is a defense feature that Major Tom put in. It keeps everyone where he can find them."

"That makes no sense."

"We are still in the palace that is why it is doing all of this. Think about it. I bet if I look closer, but I bet he put in a surveillance features to keep tabs on everyone." said Chuck. He smiles as he continue to search in the palace mainframe. "There it is."

The monitor screens divided up in six ways. It shows various point in the palaces. They soons see aliens running down the hallway chasing the rebel forces. The couple see rebel forces firing their weapons at the attacking aliens. After a minute, it changes to different scenes. Unfortunately, they saw a Cyberman killing a rebel with its cold hand.

"Oh my God." said Jill. She place her hand on Chuck's shoulder for support.

"Ugly did mention that Major Tom lets out the monsters. This is what he meant." said Chuck as he try to not pay attention on the murder.

"Wait. Focus on that." said Jill as she point at the monitor. Chuck pull up what Jill wanted to see. "Oh god."

"What?" ask Chuck look at the image. It look like an old man missing eyes riding around in an armored miniature tank. Chuck recognized what the old man is speaking to. It is a Dalek.  
"That is Davros." said Jill

"Who is that?" ask Chuck.

"Someone big, bad, and scary. Can you pull up any audio?"

"Yeah."  
"What are your orders?" said the Dalek.

"We leave." answers Davros. "Order all surviving members to evacuate from this planet. That lone ship nearly destroyed our entire fleet that was in orbit. The battles that are happening across this planet are not going well. The Dictator's time is up. I will not waste another minute here." said Davros.

"What about the secret weapon?" asks the Dalek.

"If there is one, the Dictator has hidden well. We will return when this war is over. Let our foes destroy each other. They will be too busy fighting each other to remember about the weapon. We will return when they have forgotten about it." explains Davros as he and the Dalek move out of the screen.

"That is good." said Jill.

"Yeah. They did not find it." said Chuck.

"Yeah. We can find it before anyone else can." said Jill.

Chuck stops and looks at the wall as a thought form in his head. Without thinking about it, he grabs the blue bouncy ball beside him and start squeezing it.

"Chuck." said Jill as she notices the look on Chuck's face.

"Hold on."  
"What's wrong?"

"He's wrong." said Chuck. He stop squeezing the ball.

"What?"

"There is one person that would not forget." said Chuck as he start searching in the computer mainframe.  
"What are you talking about?"

"Davros said that no one would be looking for the secret weapon now that the invasion is happening. He is betting that everyone would kill each other before anyone would remember about it. He's wrong. There is one person that will remember about it even before Davros."

"Who?"

"Major Tom...I mean the Dictator."

"Crap. He built his entire empire on this secret weapon." said Jill as she realize that Chuck is right.

"Now that he knows that Jenny is alive. I bet you that is where he is going right now." said Chuck. "He is going to wherever that weapon is at."  
"I hope we are not too late." said Jill as she remembers that both individuals were unconscious for a bit.

"Yeah." said Chuck. A smile creeps up on his face as he finds the man. "Gotcha."

Chuck place the surveillance footage on the monitor.

Major Tom is walking down the hall with anger in his eyes.

Chuck split the monitor screen into two halves: The left side had Major Tom walking down the hallway while the right side had a ever changing map of the palace. A red dot appear on the map.

"Weird." said Jill.

"No. It's not. It makes sense." said Chuck as he looks at the map of the palace. He noticed what Jill noticed right away.

"The whole palace is moving..." said Jill.

"..Except where he is walking toward. None of the surrounding area is moving. It is as if the hallway is simply leading him where he needs to go."

"The palace knows where he should go. How is that possible?"

"I don't know and don't care. Look for a tablet or a portable computer." said Chuck. "I bet you that he is going straight to his weapon. Once he gets there, that whole area will start moving hallways away from him. Once it does that, we will never find this secret weapon."

Jill start looking around the area for a tablet. She is opening drawers and cabinets. Chuck saw something on the corner of the screen. It is a simple video. He click on it out of curiosity. A small video appear on the screen. It is Ugly and he look at the screen. Chuck pushes play.

"Video diary entry 995: It looks like what I fear may happened. On the edge of space, it looks like something is gathering energy. What I can tell, it looks like the Big Bang will occur. The universe is trying to repair something. No one else beside myself seems to know. At least what I have gather. With the others plotting against the Dictator or focusing on the rebel forces, I have been able to work in peace. It has allow me to construct a device. It will create a paradox bubble. I have already conducted several experiments and the results has been favorable. I should be able to live while everyone dies from this explosion. The only thing I need to do is eliminates the Dictator and find the secret weapon. Actually, the main focus is the Dictator. If I can eliminate him, I can secure the palace for myself. I really do not want to live in a bubble. I much prefer being in a palace in a bubble because I really do not know what will happen when this explosion will occur."

Chuck stops the video and start to look for the file on the paradox bubble. He smiles as he found where Ugly had placed it. Chuck stand up from his chair and see Jill is still looking for a tablet. He grabs the blue ball and put it in his pocket. It seems lucky. No sense in leaving it there.

"I can't find one." said Jill.  
"Keep looking. When you find it, upload the map on the tablet. Make sure that it tags the Dictator. We just simply follow him to his secret weapon room. I will be right back."

Chuck runs out of the room without hearing what Jill said. He notices the date when Ugly recorded the video. It was his last entry but it was recorded a few months ago. It reminded him that time was already running out. Even though his findings are slightly wrong, the paradox bubble may be something he may need.

He counts the doors on his right hand side. After the twentieth door, he open the twenty first door. He open it up and see the device on the table. Chuck grabs it and start running back to Jill. Jill steps out of the room holding a tablet.

"Got it and we better move. I think he is almost there."  
Without another word, the couple runs down the hallway, hoping to get to Major Tom before it is too late.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Major Tom could feel it slipping away. The moment he saw Chuck was the moment his heart broke. It was the moment that his pride was stolen away from him. He thought he had achieved his goal. Major Tom thought that he won.

To have seen Chuck standing there by himself in the courtyard, Major Tom almost died on that balcony. Everyone moved out of the way to revealed Chuck. The man's presence taunted him. He had to stop his mind from going to the next logical thought: If he was alive, then Jenny was alive. Once Chuck confirmed that Jenny was alive, Major Tom lost his cool. He did not care. He just wanted Chuck to die. Then he had to ruin everything, Chuck released those smoke grenades to cover the rebel's escape. Major Tom knew that he lost his cool when he started to fire aimlessly at the smoke, hoping to kill someone.

Once he ran out of ammunition, Major Tom knew that time was now a factor. To give him some time, Major Tom let out the vicious aliens that he had captive. "Ugly" had kept many species under observation while he conducted experiments on them. Their temperament were hostile to say the least.

Major Tom also activated the defense protocols that he built into the palace. Once activated, the palace became a living maze. It would physical changed the layout, thus trapping anyone in the palace. Major Tom designed the palace to be a trap for whoever entered. Only the selected few knew the way out. Of course he noticed only one individual exercise that option: Davros. Everyone else was focus on the rebels or the rampaging beasts.

Of course, none of that matters.

Jenny is the only one that matters.

Major Tom curses himself for not seeing the signs especially the Daleks fleet fighting that lone spaceship. That is what made him mad. He thought it was luck. He never figured it was her in the spaceship. He did not bother looking at the satellite feeds of the battle.

He will fix that soon enough.

Major Tom approaches a dead end of the hallway. He places his hands on the wall and spoke a dead language. The wall disappears to reveal a room.

The room looks like something from a museum. There are various artifacts on display from various civilizations. The artifacts were all important weapons to those civilizations; something that each civilization rely on to defend their worlds. He looks at them now as reminders on what happened to a civilization when they encounter something bigger and badder. They lost.

None of those artifacts matters. What matter is sitting right there in the middle of the room. It stands reluctantly for his command.

His secret weapon that Major Tom used to changes his fate.

The secret weapon that changed the universe.

The blue box that is bigger on the inside.

The TARDIS.

"Hello, lovely." said Major Tom. He could feel his heart starts to race the right way. It has been a long time since he seen it. He had to violated so many rules to get this. He did not care that he damned his own soul just by getting the TARDIS.

"What have you done?" said a female voice from behind Major Tom. He smiled. He recognizes the voice. It has been a long time but he will never forget that voice. He turns around to see the female Time Lord standing there.

"Hello, Jenny." said Major Tom.

If Major Tom cared, he would have asked Jenny how she got into the palace. If he did, Jenny would have answered. She would have told him that during the fight of the Dalek, a lone laser clipped her ship, causing her to fall straight to Earth. She would have told him that she aimed her ship straight at the palace, specially at the palace's force field.. Her ship destroyed the force field surrounding the palace, but diverted her ship away from the palace. After the crash, Jenny walked toward the palace. Jenny would have told Major Tom that the palace's door opened, releasing all the palace's guards. She found out that they were not coming at her, but running away from the palace. She walked into the palaces to encountered chaos. Jenny would have told Major Tom that she encountered several different angry aliens. Some of them ignored her while others tried to fight with Jenny. The Nightmare Child tried to prey on Jenny's fear while the King Who Should Not Have Been tried to best her. The Screams of Thousands tried to make Jenny a part of the collective. Jenny would have told Major Tom that the Nightmare Child is sitting in the corner thinking what it has done, the King is lying on the ground shattered by doubt, while the Screams of Thousand is confused by the Question that Jenny gave it. If he asked, Major Tom would have found out that Jenny heard the TARDIS cries and simply followed it here.

Major Tom would know all of this if he asks.

If Major Tom cares….

"You realize what you have done?" said Jenny as she places her focus on Major Tom.

"What I have done? Oh, I did not even know what I did until I actually done it." said Major Tom.

"You know what that is?" ask Jenny.

"Of course, it is the last TARDIS in existence." answers Major Tom. "Like I said, it was an accident."

"No it was not." said Jenny.

"Of course, it was. Stealing this TARDIS was not the accident. My plan was to take the device. This…" Major Tom extends his hand to point out the palace. "... was an accident."

Jenny keeps her stand. She knew that he was going to start talking now. It had been a problem with him. He loves the sound of his voice.

"See, there was this prison inmate who was my cellmate long time ago. He was alway making plans. It was the only thing he did to pass the time. Some of his plans were just pure crap. After what seems to have been six months of listening to the poor creature, he mentioned the TARDIS. He said that if you can get a TARDIS from a Time Lord, you could essentially rule the universe. I laughed at him. After all, Time Lord don't exist anymore even though I knew of one. Even if there was one left that had a TARDIS, what Time Lord would let you have such a device. My cell mate said the best way is simply take it when the Time Lord is distracted. He also said that you had to take it at the one place that it had to be. You had to take it from that fixed point in time.

"You didn't?" asks Jenny as she takes one step away from Major Tom.

"Jenny, all the TARDIS in existence had to be at that war. It had to be at that fixed point in time. They all had to be at the Time War."

Jenny takes a breath.

"Rumor has it that it is locked. No one can change that event." said Jenny.

"No. But there are holes. Trust me, those holes did not make things easy. I am pretty sure that I left a few pieces of myself just trying to get in. See, the moment you got your memories back, I knew that I cannot take you on. You have been such an impossible kill that I knew that I was only moment away from becoming a Captain Ahab. I did not want that. If I was going to get rid of you, I had to do it properly. I went to get the only item that could ensure your destruction."

"A TARDIS." answers Jenny.

"Yes, a TARDIS. Just the seer ability to fly about through space and time made things so easy. It was so easy. Like I said though, getting to it was...difficult. That time and place was so…...horrible." said Major Tom. His mind disappears for a second as it remembers what it saw. The moment pass and Major Tom places his focus back on Jenny. "Time Lords were not at one spot as I thought they would be. Finding a TARDIS turned out to be a difficult task. Then I found one in some out of the way desert. Once I saw it, I watched it. Some old man got out and walked toward some hut carrying some box. I knew this would be my only chance to get it and I ran to it.

"How did it let you in?" ask Jenny.  
"I found this off of some dead Time Lord." Major Tom took out a small cylinder. Jenny recognizes it. Major Tom had a sonic screwdriver. Based on pure instinct, she took out her own.

"It made things slightly easier. Flying it out was hard, thankfully not impossible." said Major Tom with a small smile.

"That is how you conquered the universe. You used the TARDIS."  
"Yes. Then something happened."

"What?"  
"It turns out that I stole the last TARDIS in existence because the whole planet exploded." said Major Tom. Jenny swallows her saliva. "I slowly realized that things were simply different when I step out of the TARDIS for the first time. Alien civilizations that existed no longer did. Other that were extinct were flourishing. When I stole this TARDIS, I did something."

"What you did was change everything and you endanger everything."

"So?"

"What?"

"Who actually cares? I have to be honest. After I conquered everything, everything seems like a bore. If everything ends, I have to say that I would not care."  
"I do not believe that." said Jenny.  
"Really? Why is that?"

"Because you are here, getting ready to go into the TARDIS."

Major Tom smile melt away. He looks at her.

"No. I just want to get rid of you."

"Well. How are you going to do that?" said Jenny. Her mind start to race. The only way to end all of this was to simply get to the TARDIS. Simple enough.

Without warning, Major Tom point the sonic screwdriver in his hands and start fire it at Jenny. Jenny duck out of the way and start to run toward the TARDIS. She points the laser end of her screwdriver at the ceiling. The weaken ceiling above Major Tom collapses on top of him. Jenny runs toward the TARDIS.

Then she stop running.

Major Tom starts to move. He moves some of the debris off of him.

"Did you really think that I am so messed up that I did not take precautions?" asks Major Tom. He stands up from the floor. "I constructed this palace. You know what that means? It means that I knew that I was building this room. I had to make sure that it was secure. Have you seen my advisors? They are the most evil things in the universe. I wouldn't trust them with a toilet paper. So, anyone who does not share my DNA is frozen out. The moment you step inside this room, a force field is applied on you. You are frozen. You are locked until I say so."

He looks at the frozen Time Lord.

"I figured someone would find this room and try to break in. It is the only reason why I put security protocols. I never figured it would be used against you."  
Jenny's eyes focus on him.

Major Tom points the sonic screwdriver at the TARDIS. The TARDIS door open.

"This is so much better. You get to watch, as I leave this place. You will get to watch as everything changes and there will be nothing you can do about it. With any luck, you will cease to exist."

The pain he felt made him drop the sonic screwdriver. He looks at his hand to realize that something just hit him. He looks at the ground to see a mop. He turns to see that Chuck and Jill had arrived.

"You." said Major Tom with such venom.  
"Yep." replies Chuck.

"I thought for sure you would be dead."

"Nope."  
"C'mon then, come and get me."  
"We just heard everything. We will gladly stay right here." said Chuck.

"And how you think you can stop me from there?"

"Would you believe that they have something called guns now?" said Chuck. Jill points her gun at Major Tom.

He looks at the gun.

"Well, that is something I did not anticipate." said Major Tom as he put his hand in the air. "Looks like we have a stand off."

"What makes you say that?" said Jill.

"I can't move because you would shoot me and you can't move in the room to the TARDIS because you will get frozen. That is why."

"Looks like it." said Jill. "We will think of something."

"Wait." said Major Tom with a smile. "I have a force field around me that could protect me."

Jill's face reveals a shock expression. Major Tom press a button on his belt. A reddish dome surrounds Major Tom.

"Guess we do not have a standoff." said Major Tom with a smile. He takes a step back. Jill fires her gun, hoping that he was wrong. The bullet bounce right off of him. Major Tom let out a laugh. "What's wrong?"

Jill fires another one. It bounces off of Major Tom.

"Seriously. Are you dense to think that it would work that time. I have won. Accept it." said Major Tom with such glee that Jenny, even frozen, felt like vomiting.

Chuck closes his eyes and let a flash happened. What he got was something else. He opens his eyes and wonder how that got in there and if it was accurate. He did not want to complains. He needs that flash. He close his eyes again and try to flash for the right thing. He smiles as he got what he wanted.

The second flash was to throw the perfect pitch.

He pulls out the blue ball. His throw of the metal mop confirmed one thing. Non living objects can go into the room. The blue ball can do the one thing he can't.

It also meant that he had one shot at this.

His first flash seems to increased his chances though. How it got into the Intersect was something he was pretty sure would never find out. It ranks right up there with the visions and how he was able to read that book.

That flash had a blueprint of the first floor of the TARDIS.

He knows where to throw the ball. Chuck takes a deep breath and throw the ball as hard as he can.

Major Tom watches as Chuck's blue ball flew past him.

"Really? That is such a lame attempt in stop me." taunts Major Tom.

Chuck watches as the ball bounce off a wall. He lets out a sigh of relief on how bouncy it really is as it hit another wall. As the ball knocks an artifact done, Major Tom smile disappear a little. The ball bounce off the wall again. This time it hit the ceiling at an angle. It bounce on the floor at an angle that the ball finally flies straight into the TARDIS.

"What are you doing?" asks Major Tom as he saw the ball fly into the TARDIS. The TARDIS door slams shut. Major Tom smile disappears completely. His eye widen as he could hear the TARDIS start up.

"NO!" said Major Tom as he realizes what happened.

Chuck turns to Jill.

"I am going to need that device."

"Sure. What is so important about it?"

Chuck did not want to answer her. He knows what is going to happen now. At least he had an idea. He watches as the TARDIS slowly disappear. If he did things right, it will go back to the first place it needs to go. Of course, it was a shot in the dark that he just did. There was no guarantee that the ball would hits the right button or instrument.

What he did know is this: Time is about up for this reality.

Chuck walks up to Jenny. He stops at the edge of the room. He place his hand on Jenny back and press a button. A blue forcefield encase her.

Major Tom simply collapses to his knees.

"It's gone." said Major Tom in a meek voice. "I lost."

The hair on the back of Chuck's neck rose. He knew what is going to happen next. But it was not going to be a bad thing.

"Chuck, what is going on?" asks Jill.  
"We fix it, Jill. Reality is fixed."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you wouldn't remember any of this." said Chuck as he looks at the woman who looks like his ex.

"Are you saying..."

"All you need to know is that you are going to be a completely different person now." . Chuck turns to Jenny. Her eye is trying to catch a glimpse of Chuck.

"I don't know how to work it, Jenny. I don't have time to figure it out. Figures you are more important to the universe then me." said Chuck. "Thanks."

Jenny's hearts sank.

"Thanks for showing me a good time. It was fun." said Chuck with a smile.

Then reality changed.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

She opens her eyes. Jenny is still in a temporal forcefield. She expected this. What she is seeing now, she cannot believes her eyes. Jenny finds herself standing in the middle of the park. She had to survey the environment to make herself believe what was going on. People were walking their dogs in the park. There is an old man using a metal detector to find buried treasure within the ground. Jenny could hear the sound of cars passing by the park as she looks up to see the clear blue sky. Jenny had to let a small smile out. They did it. Chuck & Jenny saved existence.

Correction: Chuck save existence.

Jenny reaches to her back and press the button. The forcefield turns off. She could smell the air now. She can walk now. She walks up to a woman walking her pug.

"Excuse me. I am a little disoriented. What city am I at?" ask Jenny.

"Burbank." said the woman with a wonder if she was in trouble.

Jenny smiles.

"Thanks." With that, she starts to run. There is something in the air. Jenny did not like it. Reality did go back to its normal state with changes. She did not know what those changes were. She hopes that poodles were now pink instead of white. Whatever it is, she really hopes that the changes did not include Chuck.

* * *

She finds herself in front of the BuyMore.

"OK. Good sign." She walks into the big warehouse store. Jenny looks around to customer looking at computers and television. She smiles as she sees the Nerd Herd desk. She runs up to the desk. Her hearts skips a bit when she sees a tall skinny man with his back toward her. A skinny man turn to her.

"Welcome to the Buy More, how can I help you?" Jenny hopes it was Chuck. The name tags says it was Bob. And Bob had really long flowing brown hair.  
"Is Chuck here?" ask Jenny.

"Who?"

"Chuck Bartowski. He works here."

"Hold on." said Bob. The skinny man picks up his phone and dials a number. "Hey, Big Mike. Do you know a Chuck Bartowski? Really. OK. Thanks."

Jenny held on hope.

"Maam. He has not worked here for a couple of years now. Is there something I can do for you?" asks the skinny guy.

"No, thank you."

She turns around and runs out of the building. She knows where he can be.

* * *

"Sorry. They have not lived here for a while. Only reason I know is because I get some of their mail by accident." said the old woman in the apartment building. Jenny could feel her heart sink and rise. The Bartowski family did exist.

Thankfully Chuck and his family are not that different.

"Thank you." said Jenny as she walks away. There are places that she can still go too.

Jenny went to the Orange Orange. It had been out of business for a few years now. Lou's deli stills stand but under different management. Comic books stores has not seen him for a while. Everywhere she went, they had not seen him. For a while, hope was almost gone. There might be one place he could be. They once had a conversation on the roof of the BuyMore. He did mention one place he like to go: The beach.

As she finally reaches to the beach, her hearts jumps. She see a familiar man sitting on the beach facing the ocean. Jenny runs up to him to find him writing some sort of code. She smiles. He is still the same man.

Jenny slowly approaches him.

"Hello, Chuck." said Jenny.  
Chuck stop writing the code and put down his pencil. He looks up at the female Time Lord. He looks for her at a minute. Jenny keeps her smile, but her hearts starts to sink.

"Do I know you?" asks Chuck as he tries to place her face.

Jenny swallows. Whatever happened, Jenny did not want to speculate. The result is what matter.

"You help me...a while ago." said Jenny, hoping she is wrong. She want to keep it vague in case….

"At the Buy More?" asks Chuck. He stands up from the ground. He shake some sand off of his pants.

Jenny's fears are confirmed. Whether it is memory loss or an event being erased, Chuck did not have any recollection of who she is. They may not have even met in this new reality.

"Yeah. At the Buy More." lies Jenny. "You were...such help to me. I don't think that I ever said thank you."

She looks at him hoping that he may show any recognition on who she was. He continues to look at her.

"Oh." said Chuck. Jenny keeps her smile on her face, to not reveal her disappointment. "Well, I am sorry if I don't remember you. I helped so many people that sometime their faces tends to blur in my mind."

Jenny looks deep into Chuck's eyes. Jenny could see that he did not have the Intersect in his mind. Everything is different now.

"Do not worry about it. I just wanted to say thank you." Jenny extends her hand out to him. Chuck smiles.

"You are welcome." He shakes her hand. "I was only doing my job."

"No. You did more than that. You were magnificent." said Jenny as she let go of Chuck's hand. "Good bye, Chuck. I hope you get what you wanted."

Jenny turns around and walks away from the man who was her friend. She did not even notices Morgan Grimes walking past her.

* * *

Morgan Grimes walks past Jenny. He is carrying a letter. He stops and turns to look at her as she walks away from Chuck. He simply stare at her and ponders. After a moment, he shrugs and walk up to Chuck as he sits back down on the sand of the beach.

"Dude, who was that?" asks Morgan.

"A stranger." answers Chuck. "She said that I helped her and wanted to thank me."

Chuck opens his book back up on a different page. He start to sketchs.

"Really? I could have sworn that I have seen her before." said Morgan. "What are you doing?"  
"Sketching." answers Chuck.

"Really? What about that code that you were working on the other day."

"I hit a wall. I figures that I would put it away and focus on another aspect of my project."

"You really need to tell me what this mysterious project is about." said Morgan as he try to catch a glimpse of this mysterious project.

"It is hard to explain. I am still wrapping my brain around it." said Chuck.

"So, you are working on a project that you have no idea what it would do. Seriously, Chuck. Even Tony Stark had an idea where he is going." said Morgan.

Morgan sits down beside his friend and looks out toward the ocean. It has been two years since Sara Walker lost all of her memories of Chuck. Morgan hoped for a fairy tale resolution: A kiss to restore their love and memories. Chuck even hoped for it as he kissed her. What they got is something else: A do over. They had to start their relationship over. It has been difficult for the former couple. They had to talk honestly, something that Sara still find difficult. The funny thing is that they never stop talking or try to find out more about each other. Even when Sarah told Chuck that she had to "find herself without him," they did not stop texting or talking on the phone. As of yesterday text, Sarah Walker is in Paris with her girlfriends looking for a serial bomber.

Morgan hoped this quest in finding herself ends soon. Chuck is missing her. Morgan tried what he can do for his best friend. When Morgan was not working or spending time with his girl, he would sit with his best friend to keep him company.

One thing that Chuck had been doing is focusing on this mystery project. Morgan could see a lot of Chuck's dad in Chuck at the moment.

"I do have an idea, it is the thought on whether it is going to work or not in my lifetime." said Chuck.

"Dude, if there is someone who can make it work, it is you."

"Thanks, Morgan." said Chuck. He looks at Morgan's left hand. "What is in the letter?"

"Oh, this. It arrived today"  
"That is odd."  
"I know, but it wouldn't be when I tell you who it is from."  
"Who?"  
"Lester and Jeff."

"You are right. It is not weird now. How are the two lugs doing?" asks Chuck as he put down the paper and pencil. He places his focus back on his best friend.

"Are you ready for this? Turns out there is someone in Europe that does not like how they sing."  
"They are like snails. They are an acquired taste."  
"Exactly. Anyway. Someone wants to kill them."

"Whoa. Hold on. That is extreme for two pop singers." said a concern Chuck.  
"Exactly. Originally, Jeff and Lester wanted you, me, and Casey to protect them."

"Yeah. I don't see Casey leaving the North pole for those guys."  
"Don't worry. Their agent took care of it. He hired bodyguards for them."

"Ok."

Morgan simply smiles a goofy grin.

"Morgan. Who is it?" ask Chuck.

"You are not going to believe who it is." said Morgan.

* * *

"Seriously, we have friends that can take care of this killer." said Lester to his agent.

Lester is sitting on his couch in his tour bus. The tour bus scream rock star Leather couch, television, a small kitchen, a bedroom in back. The tour bus is considering the BMW of bus. Jeff is writing down some words of their newest song on a yellow note pad.

"We take this type of situation very serious, Mr. Patel." said the agent as he stands at the entrance of the bus. He is wearing a suit that scream expensive. He is wearing sunglasses and has a slick hair style. "We have confirmation that this is a matter that needs to be taken seriously. We have already hired a couple of bodyguards."

"Look. Whoever you hired, our friends are better. There is no one that you can get that would be better than my friends." argues Lester.

"Seriously, I am not going to tolerate some pompous rich ass artistic jack ass. The first time he grabs my butt, I am breaking his arm." said a loud angry female voice outside of the bus.

Jeff stop writing in his notepad and look up. Lester tilt his head a bit.

"That voice. Why does it sound familiar?" ask Jeff.

"I don't know." said Lester.

"You need to do something different. No offense but you are burning out and you need something lite." said another female voice outside of the bus. "Trust me. You will be so glad to have taken this assignment."

"I know I have heard that voice some where." said Jeff.

"But where?" ask Lester.

Steps walk into the bus. Both men look to see to females: One blonde and one brunette with a very familiar shape. Lester then realize why he recognize the voice.

"No." said Lester in a whisper with Jeff still trying to process the information.

"Gentlemen. These are your bodyguards." said the agent as he steps aside to reveal the bodyguards.

"Holy crap!" said Jeff as he drop his NotePad. Lester simply stare at the pair of ladies, not in his usual fashion, but in fear.

It was Amber Long & Tiffany Schultz, the two women who used to work at the Buy More.

"No friggin way." said Tiffany as she notices Jeff and Lester. Without missing a beat, both men faint in shock.

"Explain, Amber." commends Tiffany as she turns to confront her friend.

"Look, you are a great spy, but right now you are at the edge. I don't know what has happened, but you are not in a good place. I am not losing my best friend because you refusing to see a shrink or take some time off." explains Amber.

"But we have to be their bodyguards." said Tiffany in confusion.

"Stop acting like this some crap assignment. I know you brought their latest album. I saw it uploaded on your iphone. You still have the Buy More group picture in your wallet. You miss them." counters Amber

"I don't miss them." said Tiffany. She looks at the unconscious men. "Why would I miss them? They are annoying, irritating, and a whole lot of trouble."

Tiffany looks at the two unconscious men.

"And they will cause an International incident." said Tiffany as she remember who she would be protecting.

"What are you saying?" asks Amber as she did not hide her smile.

"I am saying that for the sake of the free world, I will help you protect them." said Tiffany.

"Oh goody!" Amber hugs her friend. Tiffany hugs her friend back.

Tiffany look at the two guys.

"Yep. I am going to regret this" said Tiffany.

* * *

Chuck slowly stop laughing. He wipes the tear off of his eyes.

"Thanks Morgan. I really needed that." said Chuck.

"I know. Alex had to leave the apartment because I was laughing so much. It is too funny not to share. Those kids that Casey taught alway crack me up." said Morgan.

The only class that Sarah and John Casey ever taught had some unique students. The class of Covet Living only last a year before everything changed. The students, however, got trained by the best and were sent out on assignments. Like their mentors, their lives are radically different. Amber and Tiffany were bodyguards for Lester and Jeff. Jake Harding and Thomas Monroe are now the head of a security firm. William Jefferson is getting married to Jesse Smith on the top of Mount Everest before heading out to China to find a rogue assassin. Morgan is chuckled at how much things changes in only a few short years.

Morgan looks back at the direction where the blonde walk toward. She now a speck.

"Are you sure we did not know that woman?" ask Morgan.

"C'mon, Morgan. Lets get you home. I don't want you to get into trouble with Alex."

"No worries. Alex has class. That is why I am here. Figure it is time for some Halo with my best bud."

"Add some tacos & you got a deal".

"Duude. I already called ahead. They have our order ready."

"Then, let's get some quality time in." said Chuck as he starts to gather his stuff.

"Seriously though. I still can't believe you do not know what you are inventing." said Morgan as he helps his friend with his stuff. "I really hope it is worth the the time you are spending on."


	44. Epilogue

Epilogue

Jenny walks out of her spaceship with a smile. This is her favorite part & it has never gotten old for her. That first step that she takes onto a different place is so exciting. She does not know if she is walking into a paradise or the finality of a planet. It is always something different.

However, this time she sought out this place.

Jenny has heard rumors about this place in several temples throughout the galaxy. It was only whispers in the highest levels in several societies. Only a selected individuals whispered about it. If rumors on what she heard about this place is true, there has only been five individuals in the universe that has set foot on this place. That alone made her want to come to this place.

She could feel the dry ground crunch underneath her boot. She could hear the crackle in the air as she walk out. Jenny looks around to see not a starry sky, but a pure white sky. She smiles. That did not surprise her. According to the rumors & her ship instruments, they were outside space & time. Of course, that was not the reason why the sky was pure white.

In front of her is a building. It screams majestic & antique. This odd place is a library sitting on a floating asteroid. How it got there, no one knows.

"Whoa!" said a male voice. The voice snaps Jenny back into reality. She turns to see her latest companion simply staring at the whole area with his mouth open. He is eighteen years old and is wearing jeans and black t shirt. His body has an athletic building. The man is the All American individual.

Jenny had wondered how many companions that her father has gone through. She had waited for one hundred years before she even got the desire to have someone by her side. After what she had went through with Chuck, she did not want to risk it again. She could not see herself placing another individual in so much danger. It is one thing that she put herself in that situation, but putting another individual at risk is a different matter.

Jenny met the man in Greece on the side of the road. He was trying to fix a broken down truck. Unfortunately, he was not aware of the approaching black goo that wanted to devour him. She had to step in & save him. In turn, she had to save Greece from the black goo with his help. Then she got to know him and realized that she had to take him with her.

The boy is eighteen years old and he looks like he needed an adventure. Whatever has happened to him, she could tell that it affected him down to his being. Jenny could see a person that lost his center. There is an aimlessness in his eyes. He needed something and she could not help but try to help him.

"This is so unbelieveable." said Matt with a smile creeping up his face. "Where are we?"

"We are in an anolmy in space and time. This particular area is simply outside of everything. It is a grand mystery on how it got here and why. Excited isn't' it?" ask Jenny with a smile that she did not want to hide.

Matt slowly walks further away from the ship. His smile is just slowly getting bigger.

"Have you been here?" ask Matt.  
"First time I have been here." reply Jenny.

"No one else has been here?"  
"According to rumors, five individuals. No one really knows how they got here or how they got out. According to the rumors, they were profoundly changed by the experience." explains Jenny.

"Oh, dear lord!" said a female voice.

Jenny's hearts skip a beat. If Matt was excited by the prospect by the adventure, his companion seems to be the opposite.

The old woman with the young girl's body slowly creeps out of the ship. Her hair is blonde. While Matt is built for outdoors, she seems more built for high society. Her clothes screams designer brands. She is slim, even though she hides a reservoir of physical strength. She seems to be the opposite of Matt. She looks around the area with suspicion. Jenny could see that she had fear in her eyes.

"Where have you brought us, you lunatic?" asks the woman. Matt stops and turns to her. He walks back to her. Unfortunately for Jenny, Matt was not alone in Greece. It turns out the blonde woman was in the broken down truck calling the police. How did these two ever got together to become travel companions is beyond Jenny's comprehension. Once the offer to travel into space was accepted by Matt, the woman tagged along for Matt's protection.

"Rebekah." said Matt in a calm voice.

The woman looks at Matt.

"Calm down."

"Why?"

"Because this is an adventure." answers Matt. Rebekah starts to laugh. Whatever is the private joke between the two, they never explains it to Jenny.

"We could die here." said Rebekah.

"And I could have die at home many times. I rather die doing something then being a target for some crazed maniac. We are exploring somewhere that even your brother will never see."

"Even if he did, he would name it Caroline like he was some sort of conquering viking." said Rebekah with disdain.

"There it is."

"What?"

"That is the Rebekah that I know." said Matt. Rebekah smiles.  
"Fine. We will explore this place. Just do not say that I did not warn you."

"I wouldn't." said Matt.

Rebekah could not help but smile at Matt. Jenny could see that she was only doing this for Matt. She see the same thing that Jenny see. It may explain why Rebekah was with him in Greece.

Jenny wonders if Matt knew that Rebekah was not completely alive.

"Are you done yet, old woman?" yells out Jenny in jest.

"Shut up you cow! We will be right there." yells back Rebekah. Somehow Rebekah did not like Jenny. Her distaste for Jenny just simply grow and it is only tolerate because of Matt.

"I hate it when she calls me that." said Rebekah as Matt takes her hand.

"C'mon. Let see what this creepy place has inside." said Matt.

Rebekah and Matt walks up beside Jenny. She start to lead them toward the door. Jenny then knocked on the door.

"That is your plan?" ask Rebekah. "Are you going to simply knock on the door?"  
"Yes." answers Jenny with a smile. "It would be simply rude if I did not knock."  
Jenny knocks on the door.

What surprises Rebekah and Matt is the fact that the door swings open.

"Cool." said Jenny. She walks into the building.

"Yep. We should have went to Paris." said Matt.

"I told you. You chose not to listen to me. Now we are walking into an ominous library." answers Rebekah. She grabs Matt's hand & leads Matt into the library.

What they see is simply a man standing in the middle of a room wearing a robe. There is a hood that cover the face of the man.

"Huh. I was not expecting that." said Matt.

"Hello." said Jenny as she walks up to the robed man. He turns to face the trio.

"Are you the one?" ask the robed man  
"The one. I like to think that I am the only one." answers Jenny.

"No. There are plenty of those. No, Are you the paradox?"

"Well, that does get annoying." said Jenny. Jenny takes a breath. "Yes, I am a paradox."  
"Good. My family have been waiting for you for centuries." said the hooded man.  
"Really. Why?" ask Jenny. Both Rebekah and Matt look at each other with confusion.

"We only live to collect forgotten information. Information that no one will remember or have forgotten. Information that only the paradox can use for good. A long time ago, my ancestor constructed a place that would house such information in a secure place. At first, he thought he would use it for the betterment of mankind. One night, he dreamt about you and knew that you may one day need this place. So our ancestors and family gather information for you and waited for the day that you walk through those doors." said the hooded man.

"You were waiting for her. What is this place?" asks Rebekah.

"This is the Intersect." said the robed man. He extends his hand out in the air. The dark room lights up. The walls on the building start to light up. What the trio realizes that the walls were all monitors. Matt could see images of people on some of the monitors.. Rebekah could see places, some that she has went and forgotten. Jenny smiles. It has been a long time since she has heard of the Intersect.

"You can call me Orion." said the hooded man.


End file.
